Album per day: Day 16

Artist: Beartooth
Album: Disgusting
Released: 2014

If you remember Attack Attack!, well done. Well they're now defunct and Caleb Shomo is now fronting Beartooth, a Ohio band that mix punk and metal to create a sound of grizzly proportions. Having just opened the Kerrang! Tour around the UK, big things are said to be on the horizon for these guys, so I thought I'd see if their bite really is as strong as their name suggests.
Starting off with The Lines, with screams of ferocity and downtuned sludge riffs aplenty, there is a catchy chorus that culminates in a bone-breaking ending. Whilst Body Bag is the name of a song on this LP, it seems fitting as that is exactly what you may end up leaving a Beartooth concert in should you touch the mosh pit. I find myself drawn to the introductory vocal hook from In Between when noticing its familiarity to Sweetness by Jimmy Eat World, and then the chorus just screams A Day To Remember, so amidst all of the modern punk/metal tendencies, there is a pop sensibility that will strike a chord with a wider audience. The guitar lines shine in Relapsing, with a chorus that channels Sacramento metallers Deftones.
So far there isn't much on this album that makes it easy for me to distinguish Beartooth from a lot of American bands plying their trade at the moment on the Warped Tour circuit. I haven't tracked down that distinguishable quality yet.
I have a problem... but enough about me, I Have a Problem is a powerhouse of a tune. It's the loser anthem to end all loser anthems, and Shomo delivers the message as loud as he possibly can. Keep Your American Dream is your typical 4/4 "fight the power" song, and Shomo sounds more like Jeremy McKinnon with every passing word. The extremity of Beartooth's sound is there for all to hear on Dead, a fast blast of blood and sweat. The emotion is there in Shomo's opening lines of closer Sick And Disgusting; "I just wanna feel loved!",  he screams. Its self-loathing nature, coupled with Shomo's alternative vocal style, may just be the birthmark of this band that I was searching for: the feature that makes them different from everyone else. The song is driven with such strong feelings that it sounds like Shomo is crying by the end of the song, and not just crocodile tears either.
Just like Neck Deep's album that I reviewed a few days ago, this is a debut that builds a ship for an army of young fans to get on board with. No doubt they will be on the festival circuit for the next couple of years at least, so check out their live credentials and experience this album in its full power. They're the sort of band that Kerrang! will be hyping up all up until their second album, and then the focus will either double in euphoria, or crash and burn. Honestly, there are bands who do what Beartooth do, but do it better, but that didn't stop me from liking this album. As a new band, they have to hang onto what makes them unique, and accentuate those qualities. Only then will they reach bigger heights.

Rating: 7/10
Recommended songs: I Have a Problem, Sick And Disgusting