North American quartet, Teeth, had only one ambition when they formed – to write the meanest, heaviest, most disgusting metallic hardcore possible with just four instruments. Led by metalcore veteran, Blake Louis Prince (Straight Reads the Line), and with ex-Every Time I Die and Norma Jean drummer, Ryan Leger, behind the kit, these boys are in no mood to bother about catchy chorus reprisals or melodic hooks. They turn everything up to deafening noise levels and care nothing for the collateral damage it causes. Teeth are like a soldier with a flamethrower who crosses a line of no return once he torches his first enemy camp. Think of A Biblical Worship of Violence as the abandonment of reason in favour of violence.
Questions of how heavy are just as important as the “why so heavy?” on opener, ‘We Eat Our Young’. The blast beats and frenetic guitar chaos in the first ten seconds conjure images of a bull giving birth and setting up a home in a china shop. Listen to the oppressive weight of the drop-tuned guitars as they scythe through the speakers like a Knocked Loose face-smasher. It might only be three minutes and eight seconds in length, but the rhythm section rips through fifteen different parts in this one song alone. The obliterating effect of the slow breakdown at the end should come with a health warning to those with brittle chests and weak hearts.
Like Vein.fm, the members of Teeth approach their metallic hardcore through the hyperviolent frenzy of Ion Dissonance and Frontierer. ‘Hate Me’ writhes in a hissing fit of blood-daubed rage, like Terror covering Pupil Slicer. Sharp guitar riffs jam the engine in violent reverberation. A surprise alternation between masculine screaming and spoken word regret pretends to offer you an up-and-down experience of emotions. You’ll find only extreme turbulence here until they end the song with a palm-muted breakdown to rival Pantera’s legendary ‘Domination’. Did the infantrymen of World War One undergo the same paralysis of fear as they traversed no man’s land? Your wide-eyed shock will take time to register as your body contorts into a shoulder-loosening groove.
The band’s aim is to crush you into submission. Each new section of a song must be harder and more murderous than the last part. ‘Pig Virus’ leans more towards chaotic hardcore with a brief spasm of blast beats, while ‘Drip’ makes you wonder if the musical equivalent of ADHD finds its expression here. There is no song writing on this track – just a shared determination to strain every note and every muscle to breaking point. You can rest and repair tomorrow. Today is about letting out the psychopathic rage inside with no fear for the consequences.
Extra reserves of stamina will help you through the awesome battery of closing track, ‘EyesHornsMouth’. Your adrenaline can take care of this. Four separate breakdowns remind you of the danger you can expect at a Teeth concert. “I swear you’ll swallow me whole/ My fucking back’s against the wall,” roars Blake Louis Prince as the guitarists attack their instruments with the most absurd level of down-picking brutality. Teeth write heavy music for the right reasons. They played in bands that achieved moderate success and cared for their listeners’ tastes and interests. A Biblical Worship of Violence is the antithesis of that mode of thinking. Instead, the aim is to create their music so heavy that it makes you laugh in trepidation.
If this is just a warning, imagine what a full-length album will be like…
JVB
Verdict
Release Date: 05/05/2023
Record Label: Nuclear Blast
Standout tracks: We Eat Our Young, Hate Me
Suggested Further Listening: Knocked Loose – A Tear in the Fabric of Life EP (2021), Ion Dissonance – Cursed (2010), Vein.fm – This World is Going to Ruin You (2022)