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Baring Teeth: Atrophy
25/08/11 || The Duff
I very rarely take part in SMN forum conversations, purely because not being in the know half the time leaves me vulnerable to cyber-space ass-rape, but it’s on my round of daily website visits for gossip concerning the metal scene (then there are the ‘tits’ and ‘ass’ thread stickies, now stuff of legend like Falcore and Dustin Diamond’s Dirty Sanchez). As far as memory serves me, a member or many of Baring Teeth posted a rehearsal video of their band and I was knocked down; death metal of “Obscura”-era Gorguts + Immolation pulled off in a most convincing manner made me log them in the back of my mind, but at the same time they were unsigned and so the prospects of a CD in the none-too-distant future were dispirited. Well it seems like Willowtip have their ears pressed very closely to the ground because the band’s debut effort “Atrophy” is with us in probably about as much time as it takes to record and distribute an album.
This isn’t a Gorguts/Immolation clone – there are far more influences to what Baring Teeth have to offer (including black metal, jazz and hints of post-rock/shoegaze/Neurosis), even if altogether there isn’t any identity; the flow of the music is nigh on impeccable despite a range of styles, most of which have been taken from the newfound darlings of today’s metal scene – Ulcerate, Deathspell Omega, Virus and Portal. Honestly, if you want a blend of some of the most promising bands of contemporary metal, then such are those that spring to mind with minimal effort; you can tell that Baring Teeth are no strangers to what’s hot n’ not by SMN forumer standards (basically tits, ass and Deathspell Omega).
The musicianship is expressed in true jazz-y showmanship, flashy in the bearable gamut of pretentiousness – there is no doubt that this music can induce frenzied nostril flaring at the level of expertise boasted on “Atrophy” with not one second spared (even the atmospheric feedback seems to be wearing a tux, spin-shuffling around crowds sipping champagne repeatedly chirping “How’d do you do? How’d do you do?”), but it’s snobbish mixture of discordance, elegance and darkness are obviously its most rewarding assets – you’re supposed to think yourself high-brow when indulging in the musical equivalent of a bubble-bath blowjob where not one musician outshines the other yet all are gleefully showcasing the various ways they can eleven-finger tap an E minor chord, a constant reminder of how hardcore they could fingerbang your sister.
At forty minutes, the album is paced to appear shorter, but there are some real dragging sections that contrast the mad cacophony and fill out all necessary space beautifully; the atmosphere of such is in true Deathspell Omega fashion, not as menacing as in “First Prayer” off the album “Si Monumentum” (the active, almost clean production prevents this from being the case) but the desired effect to lure you into a more despondent frame of mind much the same. “Atrophy” therefore is a lot more soothing than first listens would suggest even though a key component to the band’s sound is of the tech Atheist/Cynic/Gorguts variety– it’s almost like a heavy jazz album in many ways.
All told, this deserves an outstanding score, but because of its somewhat linear appeal, it shan’t be making a dent in my thoughts come end of the year; the music is spellbinding, but ultimately I’m thinking it’s the proficiency displayed that makes “Atrophy” so remarkable. Some uniqueness wouldn’t go amiss, and reigning it in some (as with the beginning of “Vestigial Birth”) could work wonders as well – they’ve clearly fired all their wad built up over the last years as a band in one go, so it should be interesting to see what maturity and a tighter schedule makes of them, whether they are simply a self-indulgent act lacking the creativity or whether this is the starting point of greater things to come, bringing them level with those they clearly so highly idolise.
- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Willowtip Records
- Website: Baring Teeth MySpace
- Band
- Jason Roe: drums
- Scott Addison: vocals, bass
- Andrew Hawkins: vocals, guitar
- Tracklist
- 01. Atrophy
- 02. End
- 03. Distilled In Fire
- 04. Vestigial Birth
- 05. Scarred Fingertips
- 06. The Dead Hand
- 07. Anti-Holy
- 08. Tower of Silence
