276 day till W:O:A 2023.
Time to get my band introductions started. In alphabetical order, the first band on my list today is the US hardcore punk/metalcore band Beartooth.
Beartooth was formed in 2012 by Caleb Shomo. Shomo writes all the songs, provides the vocals and has also played all the instruments in the studio while recording the first three albums. So far the band has released four studio albums and all four albums have met very positive critical acclaim.
Their latest album Below was released in 2021. Compared to Beartooth's first three albums it is said to lean more into the hard rock/heavy metal direction instead of the band's metalcore roots. For the sake of introducing a new metal subgenre to this blog, I have sorted Beartooth in "metalcore" anyhow.
So - quick introduction into metalcore: Metalcore combines elements of extreme metal with hardcore punk. Typical elements are breakdowns, heavy riffs, stop-start rhythm guitar playing, thrash or scream vocals often combined with clean singing, especially in the choruses.
Speaking of choruses... they are really catchy on Below. I've been listening to this album twice now and the chorus from The Past Is Dead has been stuck in my head permanently. Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!
Below is easy to listen to. It is fast and upbeat, creating positive vibes. It has all the elements of extreme metal, like the harsh vocals and the heavy guitars and also blastbeats. I am actually having difficulties with the parts in between. Devastation for example starts relatively brutal. Until the chorus comes along. There is something in the water...
The clean chorus with the catchy melody is in total contrast to the verse and it kind of throws me off every time.
I guess this combination is what makes metalcore so appealing to so many people. Since the 2000s this fusion genre has been on the rise and commercially successful. I am afraid it is not my cup of tea or maybe I haven't been in the right mood for it today. I can appreciate the heavy parts, but the singalong choruses and the stadium rock parts are not doing it for me. For those kind of feelings I'd rather turn to glam metal again :-)
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