Aaron Bruno Vocals Style Analysis: Why Megatons Sounds Different

This is going to be one of those posts that reads like a psycho fan wrote it. That could be because a fanboy is writing it, but I digress and I don’t care. When And Now I’m Just Gnashing My Teeth from The Barbarians Of California came out in late 2024 I was immediately hooked. They brought a vibe that I hadn’t heard in a long time. It wasn’t just the crushing riffs, the flat out unhinged vocal style or the killer production. It’s more than the sum of its parts. It felt (and still feels) new, even though it was born from styles that have been around a long, long time.

With two albums out so far, The Barbarians Of California are guilty of one serious crime: not releasing music nearly fast enough to satiate my appetite. As I type this, I’ve got MEGATONS cranked. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve spun the album thus far, but I can tell you that it will remain a constant album for me between the other albums that we review here on Shit Talk. Much to Derek’s chagrin, since we posted our formal review of MEGATONS I’ve found some reason to inject The Barbarians into everything we’ve talked about. I’ve been a heavy music fan for four decades and while there have certainly been albums and bands that hooked me over that time, few have resonated quite as hard as much as The Barbarians do. I think it’s probably because they tick a lot of the boxes for music that I’m into. They don’t tick every box, but damn, they scratch a LOT of the itches.

The Origin Story: Eric Stenman, Aaron Bruno, and the AWOLNATION Connection

It’s certainly possible that the origin story of the band is part of why I dig them so much, but they’re so much more than just a cool story. The riffs that engineer, producer and guitarist Eric Stenman first came up with and shared with singer and multi-instrumentalist Aaron Bruno were, as we’ve been told, powerful enough to draw Aaron in and take him back to his past hardcore roots. And thus, the Barbarians were born. Since then, the fine fellows who make up the rest of AWOLNATION are part of the creative process and integral to delivering the powerful music that is The Barbarians Of California.

Mastering the Balance: Clean Melodies Meets Unhinged Aggression

As the Barbarians’ frontman, Aaron is one of those rare breeds who can successfully slide between different styles and genres without losing the power or swagger of whatever category he’s working in. What really seals the deal for me is how Aaron flips between clean hooks and total unhinged chaos without missing a beat. He isn't sacrificing the heavy stuff just to make it accessible—he just knows how to write a vocal line that sticks in your head whether he's singing or screaming.

Not that long ago, the standard for heavy music vocals was a single style: really aggressive. (Don’t get out the pitchforks just yet, I’m sure there have been bands who didn’t fit that mold that I’m just not aware of. As much as I’d love to just listen to music non-stop, I value having a roof over my head and food to eat, so I’ll admit that I don’t get to listen to music as much as I’d like thanks to needing a real job. Sashimi…) It feels like historically heavy music singers matched the intensity of the music with their vocal delivery and didn’t deviate from that too terribly much by way of balancing the aggressive vocals with crystalline melodics. If a heavy band’s singer tried to find that rare middle ground, fans were skeptical. Often that was validated since there haven’t been that many vocalists who could actually do it well. (I’m ready for a flood of comments from readers giving me lists of bands who did just that, so fire away.) For my ears, Aaron has landed on the perfect balance of being able to keep things softer and clean while opening up the taps and going completely vocally unhinged. Few albums capture this shift better than the latest record from The Barbarians of California.

Track Breakdown: Inside the Chaos of "Bomb To A Knife Fight"

Let’s take "Bomb To A Knife Fight" as an example. Aaron absolutely released the hounds here. This feels like the same vocal vibe that he used on the first album’s opener "The Library" and it’s the feel that got me on that record. Wildly unhinged and chaotic yet still tight enough to not be pure madness. There are also moments of cleaner, melodic singing that still feel mean and nasty and feel perfectly in place in what is a super heavy track. Aaron also “speaks” certain lines that resonate just as hard as when he’s at full tilt. I’m not even touching on his fantastic lyrical content here, that’s a whole separate topic of its own. You’ve got three stages of vocals here: the almost-spoken lines with a bit of melody, the clean “ooh-ooh-ohh” melodies, the definitely-turned-up choruses and fully blown YOU SON OF A BITCH I THINK I WANNA GO HOME line that is, for my money, peak unhinged Aaron Bruno. One song, many vocal styles, all of which work perfectly within the track.

Genre-Bending Production and Lyrical Wit on MEGATONS

MEGATONS has a slew of different vibes, crossover thrash, metal, post-hardcore. None of it feels disjointed though, the whole album has a great flow. Musically it’s super powerful, loaded with powerful riffs and vibes to get you head banging. The vocals though play a huge part in keeping everything cohesive. Bruno’s ability to modulate his aggressive singing and to perfectly slide between clean and aggro keeps both Barbarians albums feeling like tight packages and not simply groups of songs. His choice in vocal phrasing also plays a big role in the overall feel of every track, using it as a rhythmic element in addition to the sometimes biting, sometimes snarky, sometimes downright silly lyrics. In every case though his vocal choices land, and they land hard. And damn it if it’s not one of the most fun bands out there right now too. They deliver those sweet, sweet, heavy ass tracks while Aaron is singing about being the judge and executioner in a purple minivan. Seriously, tell me who else is out there doing that right now.

Beyond the vocal performance, the production on MEGATONS is just killer. It’s clean and honest without feeling over-processed, letting the vocals sit right in the middle of a massive wall of guitars, bass, and drums. If you want to hear our full breakdown of the album—including a deep dive into the riffage, song structures, and some behind-the-scenes arguments from the Shit Talk crew—check out the full episode. Drop a comment, tell me why I'm wrong about any of this ranting, and let us know what you think of the record.