Industrial metal with solid, prominently-in-the-mix crushing guitars and bass with a fresh new sound and perspective? For real? Yes. Decades after industrial metal’s heyday (and rapid demise), we finally have a newer, crisper and more musical entry into the genre with L.A.’s 3Teeth and their latest, most metal-oriented release to date, Metawar.
After the intro track, “Hyperstition,” the band delivers a crushing opener with “Affluenza,” which contains a perfect blend of samples and honest to goodness guitar and bass over solid drums. That combination, thankfully, continues through to the following song, “Exxit.” As these tracks and others on the record demonstrate, there is true magic between guitarist Chase Brawner and bass player Andrew Means.
Lead vocalist Alexis Mincolla is solid, with just enough snarl and attitude to really deliver the poignant lyrics about the chaos and disorder present in today’s global environment.
“Time Slave” is another key track on this record, with intensely crafted synth work at the hands of Xavier Swafford. Similarly, “President X” is a crushing cut that shows just how far this band has come in terms of embracing heaviness.
While some of 3Teeth’s existing fans might be a little surprised with the move towards metal in terms of their sound, there is no doubt, after hearing Metawar, that the shift made a great deal of sense for them. Fans of bands like NIN will love this, but those who are into straight ahead heavy metal will really appreciate this as well. So if you’re one of those who cringes at the term “industrial” you might want to really just check this record out and you may indeed be pleasantly surprised.
Metawar releases on July 5 on Century Media Records and can be ordered here. Check out the red smoke vinyl!!
3Teeth tours the US this summer. Tour dates are here.
