Need help with choosing a bike

Trumpkin2020So background: currently I have a cheap mountain bike and a very old schwinn hybrid from the 90's/early 2000's (lol) that I use for riding paved and gravel trails. Mountain biking isn't really very easy for me here so mostly I ride paved trails. Sometimes they have gravel but usually it's paved and patched. The dilemma I have is that my hybrid is not only slow but going to fall apart one day; it's terrifying on downhill at higher speeds. I've noticed it's very slow because my brother has an entry range Trek hybrid and he uses probably 75% or less of the energy I use just to keep up. On equal bikes I'd smoke him. For example, at 90-95% I can average 13-14mph max and that's pedaling like a madman on the highest gear. That's undoubtedly the bike's limit on flat ground. I'd like to go faster.

I'm in the market for a new bike and wondering which type I should get. I want something more than a basic hybrid. Could I ride a road bike on the conditions of these paths? Should I? I'm not trying to change blown tires all the time. What about a gravel bike? Or is that basically a hybrid with a dropped bar? Or should I just buy a cheap hybrid and an entry level road bike? Google wasn't much help as gravel bikes are very controversial; do they even offer any more speed than a hybrid? How much better is a road bike really? Really conflicted here.

The paved trails here suck and are interconnected by various streets cracked and potholed. The trails themselves have cracks and bumps so it can be annoying even on a hybrid, bump bump bump bump bump big bump fuck. Every 2 seconds for miles sometimes. The long bike trail in Akron/Cleveland has a very long gravel section too. I probably won't do much true on road riding as I'd have to drive to the country or risk becoming the city's next traffic bike fatality so trails that I can ride to are best.

Comfort isn't an issue for me as my dumbass had ridden 50miles on my mountain bike before. I like to go as fast as I can. This is a bike I'll probably use for trips of 30-60miles and possibly even for shorter jaunts.

Any specific recs would be helpful too. I can't see myself spending more than $1500 collectively and that's stretching it. I'll never be a hardcore tech junkie for bikes so I have no desire to spend more.