Beartooth ‘Below’ — Album Review

Beartooth have never sounded as brutal or as heavy as they have with their latest release.

American metal band Beartooth formed in 2012, led under lead vocalist and primary song composer Caleb Shomo. Since the release of their EP ‘Sick’ in 2013, Beartooth’s musical style has remained incredibly pure, while balancing heavy riffs with catchy melodic vocal lines. They are able to mix genres seamlessly, taking the greatest aspects of rock, metal, punk and even pop and make it their own.

Each Album Beartooth has released has had an underlying theme, usually around the personal life and psychological well-being of Caleb Shomo. As well as being both a phenomenal vocalist and a powerful lyricist, Shomo is a front-man who truly emotes during his performances. From powerful and enraged, to quiet and sombre, Shomo always opens himself up to his audience, letting us deep into his psyche, something many artists lack. He doesn’t merely sing his songs, he genuinely performs them. This combined with his vocal prowess and emotionally touching lyrics, Beartooth’s albums feel more akin to a therapy session than a heavy metal album. Shomo leaves nothing out, exposing himself for all eyes to see. Not only does this gather him respect but has made him far more relatable to thousands struggling with similar anxiety and mental health issues. It has made both his story and his music truly inspiring, and ‘Below’ is no different.

As mentioned before, each album deals with their own underlying theme. 2014’s ‘Disgusting’ opens up about depression, while 2016’s ‘Aggressive’ deals with anger and so on. ‘Below’, like many albums being released this year, can be related to the pandemic and the world’s current political climate. Lock-down’s negative impact has been felt by millions, causing extreme fear, anxiety and loneliness as everyone attempts to cope with the isolation. Shomo uses ‘Below’ as a means to battle these thoughts, demonising them as well and the world around them. Key examples of this are ‘Devastation’, ‘Fed Up’, ‘Skin’ and the title track. Each track tackling different elements of these demons. ‘Skin’ deals with the crippling fear of isolation and the need for human interaction, whereas ‘Fed Up’ explores the frustration of the world around us.

‘Below’ is arguably the heaviest album of Beartooth’s career musically. Where the tracks themselves can be incredibly heavy, this is mostly due to the sheer lack of softer or quieter material on the album. Beartooth’s albums have always been heavy, but each one usually manages to squeeze in a few more melodic, relatively easy listening songs. ‘Below’ has no such material. ‘The Past is Dead’ and ‘The Answer’ are definitely the most pop oriented tracks on the album. These could be seen as catering to more casual rock fans, but this is primarily due to the melody and vocal performances. The music itself, especially the riffs, are still very fast, hard and heavy. The same could be said for the rest of the album, as tracks with more melodic upbeat vocal lines still punch through the speakers in true heavy metal fashion. Beartooth offers us very little breathing room on this release.

The entire tone is summarised from the very first bar of music. Opening with the title track, Beartooth treat us to one of their most dominating and brutal riffs in years. Definitely one of the strongest riffs on the album, it wastes no time in bursting eardrums and getting listeners headbanging. It’s a fast introduction into a brutal devastating journey that keeps delivering song after song. Once again, Shomo delivers some of the most aggressive vocals in his career, beautifully weaving between singing and screaming. The lyrics even seem to be gearing up the listener, preparing them for the journey ahead; “I feel the rage, something starting to grow. Six hundred and sixty six feet in my Hell below”.

‘Below’ is followed by the two lead singles, ‘Devastation’ and ‘The Past is Dead’. Both of these tracks encapsulate Beartooth’s mixture of heavy and melodic. Both definitively heavy metal, but on different sides of the blade. ‘Devastation’ delivers some of the most bone crushing riffage on the entire album, with harsh screeching vocals that come together for a hard yet catchy chorus. While ‘The Past is Dead’ embodies a more pop infused vocal performance alongside fast and heavy chord progressions. Both heavy, both catchy, and both incredibly Beartooth.

‘Fed Up’, one the strongest tracks on the album, also finds the sweet spot between heavy and melodic. Shomo’s secret weapon is definitely his vocal diversity, seamlessly switching from strainful screams to beautiful emotional singing. Beginning with a vicious and aggressive intro, before storming into a singalong bouncy chorus. Again, Shomo uses ‘Fed Up’ as a method to vent his frustration, especially in regards to what the world has become; “Fed up with you, Fed up with my friends, Fed up with seeing Hell in my head”.

Where ‘Fed Up’ tackles frustration, ‘Skin’ dives into depression. By far the most powerful and relatable song lyrically, ‘Skin’ allows Shomo to open up and reveal his vulnerable side. Throughout lock-down we’ve all hit highs and lows, but here Shomo tells us just how far he fell;

“I’ve been sleeping on the floor of my closet again. Wishing hopelessness is something I might beat in the end, I’ve been burying it down in my system again. I’m so uncomfortable.”

Lyrically, ‘Skin’ feels very reminiscent of tracks like ‘Sick and Disgusting’ and ‘One More’. Shomo doesn’t simply sing, he genuinely emotes through his vocals. You can hear the pain and trauma in his voice as he recalls the lyrics. It never comes across as artificial or forced, it always feels like it comes from a real authentic place. ‘Skin’ allows Shomo to reveal his emotional state and his basic need of human interaction in a sea of isolation. It is immensely moving;

“I’m so uncomfortable with the skin I’m in. The mirror is telling me that I’ll never win. It’s so hard to know these days if anyone feels the same. I’d give anything, anything for some company, company.”

In regards to the strongest track on the album, I would have to go with ‘Hell of It’. To me, this is the perfect Beartooth song, as it encapsulates everything that Beartooth represents. As an album, ‘Below’ definitely serves as the most powerful and vigorous collection of guitar riffs Beartooth have ever produced, but ‘Hell of It’ might just take the cake. Every element of the track screams at the listener, it almost serves as a celebration of heavy music, right from the opening lines; “Welcome back, you couldn’t resist”.

‘Hell of It’ is probably the most brutal track on the album and it wastes no time throwing you straight into it. The riff flies at you immediately as the vocals pierce through your ears, leading you to one of their heaviest yet catchiest choruses to date. This is a track I could see being a strong opener for a live concert, it is the living embodiment of a true head banger.

‘Hell of It’ is then followed by the energetic ‘I Won’t Give it Up’ and the melodic, pop infused rocker ‘The Answer’. Both offer more intelligent and compelling lyrics alongside upbeat and inspirational melodies. However, everything completely shifts with the final track.

The rather aptly named ‘The Last Riff’, is quite like nothing we’ve heard before from Beartooth. Not only is it one of the band’s first instrumentals, its one of the most unique tracks in their entire catalogue. Still identifiable Beartooth in regards to the performances and instrumentation, structurally and melodically it sounds nothing like what we have heard before. It’s heavy but slow, dark yet uplifting, and is by far the most sinister and foreboding piece of music they have ever released. Introducing us to a slow quiet beginning, letting the guitars gently ring out, before opening up into an epic, almost cinematic experience. From dark moody riffs to souring guitars as they break up into high screeches. It would the perfect score for a science fiction noir epic. But it suitably fits the album, and I could not think of another track that could round off the album in such a dark ominous way.

If ‘Below’ can prove one thing, its that Beartooth have nowhere to go but up. Each release seems to elevate their songwriting and musicality to new heights, opening the doorways to further directions and ideas. While I don’t believe it has surpassed their last release ‘Disease’, being my personal favourite, it definitely stands on par with the best of Beartooth. As it stands there aren’t many weaknesses on ‘Below’. There may be some tracks such as ‘No Return’ and ‘Phantom Pain’ that might fade into the background however. This isn’t due to poor songwriting, as each track has elements that any Beartooth fan can pick up and enjoy. Unfortunately these tracks simply don’t offer anything new in terms of musicality that other, more impressive tracks, have already done. That aside, I believe this is one of Beartooth’s most powerful albums. Not only is it their heaviest album to date, it is by far one of the most harrowing, honest and relatable albums of the year.

Track-list:

1. Below
2. Devastation
3. The Past Is Dead
4. Fed Up
5. Dominate
6. No Return
7. Phantom Pain
8. Skin
9. Hell Of It
10. I Won’t Give It Up
11. The Answer
12. The Last Riff