Beartooth

Below

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Genre: Metalcore.
Released: 25/06/2021
Via Red Bull Records

Album Review: Beartooth – Below

Ohio based metalcore giants Beartooth are back with their brand new album titled ‘Below’. The album is the successor to the band’s 2018 release ‘Disease’ and fans have been extremely vocal and supportive of the new record. With everything that has transpired around the world since the last release, I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t expecting an extremely gritty and emotionally driven release from the band. I’m eager to jump into this release so without any further delay, here are my thoughts on Beartooth’s ‘Below’.

Opening with the emphatic title track ‘Below’, Beartooth waste little time bringing the noise to the listener. Sticking to the standard Beartooth formula of the more mainstream song structure, the band nail the mix of a radio friendly esc sound combined with some heavy riffs and metalcore stylings. Not slowing down, the single ‘Devastation’ is unleashed with a barrage of distorted riffs and guttural screams. Mix this with an infectious and memorable chorus and you have a recipe for a fan favourite right of the bat. No wonder the band wanted this one out there to push the album.

Yet another single follows, this time it’s ‘The Past Is Dead’. A more anthem-like track that screams live track. Toning down the heaviness in favour of a more radio-friendly sound that will see the band get more airtime to push the record, the song lacks the bite we’ve come to expect from Beartooth and it’s far from anything of their earlier records. Picking up the pace, single ‘Fed Up’ has an unusual twist to it. The more computerised effects on Caleb’s vocals misses the mark for me. I found this to be the worst single that the band had put out and unfortunately, it hasn’t grown on me since. 

Thankfully, ‘Dominate’ is a return to form with a more aggressive style of track. Beartooth is at their best when they are laying all their emotions out for all to see and this track is a great example of that. Caleb has an amazing ability to convey emotion in his voice and this track utilises that and allows the track to stand out from the pack. Halfway through the album now and ‘No Return’ is a decent entry. The song has an intriguing instrumental that is full of character and personality which compliments the more melodic vocal style that is predominant on this track. 

Turning the aggression up again, ‘Phantom Pain’ has some of the heaviest parts of the entire album. Mixing gutturals and cleans once again, the band are certainly in favour of sticking to what they know and they are seriously starting to own their craft. ‘Skin’ is your run of the mill Beartooth track. It’s nothing special , if you like their stuff already, you’ll probably have a good time listening to this one. 

The final single to feature on the record comes in the form of ‘Hell Of It’. Focusing on a more chaotic instrumental to appease the fans of the bands heavier tracks, the song is impactful and memorable. Constant riffs and dominant drumming adds to the listening experience and this is still one of my top picks from this record, which makes the fact ‘I Won’t Give Up’ follows it that much more of a dissapointment. I disliked this track. I found it to be very generic and almost a bit stale when I listened to it and I found myself wanting to skip the track when I heard it come on in general rotation. 

Nearing the end of the album now and the penultimate track ‘The Answer’ is a great choice of track to start the last hoorah. Mixing the bands cleans and distortion yet again, the song feels like it’s going to be one of those powerful sing-along tracks once the band are finally able to get back out on tour. Finishing up the album is the sinister instrumental track ‘The Last Riff’. Unlike anything that has featured on any of the band’s previous studio releases, the band have opted to close their new album with an emphatic instrumental that I’m sure will divide fans on whether or not it did the best job of closing the highly anticipated record. I’m still unsure myself.

Overall, I think this album is certainly an improvement over ‘Disease’ however it still lacks the same impact we received from ‘Aggressive’ and ‘Disgusting’. Beartooth is certainly moving more and more into the more mainstream metalcore direction and because of this, I feel that the rawness fans came to love on earlier releases may be lost to time. I still recommend fans giving this new release a listen as the majority of the tracks are pretty damn good. Just don’t go into it expecting old Beartooth.