Beartooth, The Past Is Dead
Red Bull Records

Beartooth, the kings of melodic metalcore with bite, are back with The Past Is Dead and news of an album: Below. It’s looking every bit as bloody great as you’d expect – they just dropped blistering lead single Devastation last week and they’re already blowing us apart. It’s heavy, heavy, heavy, and completely alluring.

Devastation is the heavier of the pair we’ve heard so far, and in typical Beartooth style, it’s utterly immersive. The instrumentals are breathtakingly pacey, pounding and propelling the roar of the verses along into a chorus that pulls us back for a classic Beartooth scream-along chorus. They’re just as good at writing a tune as they are at growling out the sections of pure noise, and Devastation is Beartooth’s duality at its best, slipping seamlessly between the grinding crunch of the verses into the addictively catchy choruses.

The Past Is Dead lightens up just a touch in sound, but not in subject matter – a rolling boil of instrumental bubbles away beneath a refrain that it’s impossible to listen to without physically feeling transported into the restless mosh-pits it’s bound to inspire. The melodies are infectious, the jagged riffs utterly pulverise the beat, and Beartooth know it. Bring on Below.

Below is out June 25th.