Beartooth "Aggressive" Album Review

by: James Southworth
Rating: 3/5 Stars

Caleb Shomo of the inside joke of metalcore band Attack Attack! surprised everyone when he released his own project Beartooth. Everything on the album was produced by him and him alone: his voice, the lyrics, the guitars, the drums, everything. In addition to that, his unique usage of a hardcore punk style of music pushed Beartooth to the front in terms of popularity right on the release of their debut "Disgusting". I love that album. It is one of the few metal albums that I view as almost perfect. The lyrics are well-penned ("I Have a Problem" and "Ignorance is Bliss" being prime examples), the instrumentation is raw and so are Caleb's brutal screams and beautiful cleans, and there are also super catchy choruses (particularly on songs like "In Between" and "Body Bag"). The cherry on top are the delightful breakdowns that are some of the best and most intense I've had the pleasure of listening to. Everything about "Disgusting" is fresh and it has given metal and hardcore more respect by the masses. It was energetic and didn't follow the formula. Unfortunately, the same can't always be said for Caleb's sophomore effort "Aggressive", even if it is a overall solid effort.

It was only inevitable that after the huge success of "Disgusting" that Caleb would use the Beartooth formula a second time. And for the most part, it works on this album. "Aggressive" gets off to a great start with the one-two punch of the title track and "Hated". The title track brings to mind a better version of "Beaten In Lips", as it is once again about oppressed youth- which makes sense because they are a big fraction of Caleb's audience. The song does boast everything that is great about Beartooth though: the lyrics are intriguing in their criticism of a society that views its young generation as inferior to others ("Chew us up, spit us out/You know what you’re breeding/Lost aggressive youth/Push us back, hold us down/What were you expecting?/Lost aggressive youth"), Caleb's cleans are excellent, his screams piercing, and the breakdown a joy to hear. The song "Hated" is a little bit different though. It primarily has Caleb's clean singing backed by some more straight up punk riffs. This is not a bad thing at all, though, because Caleb tackles the punk textures terrifically. The chorus is probably the most catchy on the album, and the breakdown is expected but once again a lot of fun. This is easily one of the top moments on the album because of the musical risks it takes.

Unfortunately, for a few tracks, the album goes on a bit of a weaker streak, with the middle part of the record not matching up to anything produced on "Disgusting". Though still sounding pretty great musically, "Loser" has some cliched lyrics ("It wasn't easy being rejected by the thing I wanted so bad/To be accepted, to be wanted, to wake up and say this is gonna be a good day/Maybe I wasn't like all the normal kids, I was born just a little bit different"). This underdog anthem feels like any other one done by other bands. It doesn't stand out on the album, and feels like more of a direct sellout to its audience. "Fair Weathered Friend" stands as the weakest song musically and lyrically as it addresses hypocrisy with some bizarre lyrics and a sadly passionless chorus. "Burnout" sounds a bit too much like "I Have a Problem" and is definitely weaker than that song. The lyrics are once again empowering youth to not be held down by those who oppress them. It feels tired, though, when "Hated" addresses this theme far better.

"Sick of Me" seems like a direct repeat of "Burnout", at least in lyrics, but it is saved by having a distinctly fresher sound. It does get a little annoying at "Censored" to hear the theme of oppression addressed yet again in just another deviation, and once again does not sound all that interesting.The breakdowns on all of these tracks are not anything special, either, with was the biggest disappointment. These four tracks are sadly not very memorable, but thankfully Caleb's talent in the music and vocal department still mostly shines through (except on "Fair Weathered Friend") and saves them from being  completely monotonous in sound. Unfortunately, the lyrics and themes still feel too similar and some of the lyrics and breakdowns feel like they could belong to another band.

Luckily, the ending part of this album, which also happens to be the strongest part, is really what makes "Aggressive" a notch above other metal releases. "Always Dead" is easily the best song on the album and one of the best Beartooth songs to date. It lives up to the album title with some truly aggressive guitar work, drumming, and vocals. Caleb gives it his all here in delivering the lyrics "You'll always be dead to me" with quite a bit of passion. What makes this song even better is the guitars and drumming are always changing direction, always unpredictable, so you never see the breakdown coming, but when it happened, I had a huge grin on my voice. The song is short but to the point, and it's practically perfect. "However You Want It Said" boasts the best clean vocals on the album and a really catchy chorus. "Find a Way" has a solid leading guitar riff with some more positive lyricism ("I sold myself for what I love/Sometimes it's not enough/How hard can it be to breathe?/I've gotta find a way out"). It was refreshing to hear a song which was about Caleb encouraging his audience to find a solution for themselves instead of just lashing out against others.

Let me just say "Rock Is Dead" is purely fun. It is right up there with "Always Dead". I could just tell Caleb put a lot of passion into this one and I could hear the conviction in his voice when he says "If rock and roll is dead you can kill me right now!", which also made me very happy. The song screams pure energy and feels like it is worthy of being on "Disgusting". "King of Anything" closes the album as a solid cut. The song is almost solely clean vocals and is much more subdued than anything else on the album. The stripped down approach on the guitars works, as well as Caleb's vocals sounding a little less produced. It's fitting for the raw lyricism: "But I'm not close to perfect/I'm not close to sane/I'm not the one to worship/And I'm not the one to blame/But you made up your mind/And put me on your stage/Just take it all back/I'm not the king of anything". Those honest lyrics stand as the obvious lyrical highlight of the album, and ultimately end the album on a high note which left me wanting more.

I definitely did not think this album was as good as the energetic, fun, and well-written "Disgusting". There were a few songs on this album that took a little too much from "Disgusting" and they sound stale in comparison. "Fair Weathered Friend" was  surprisingly weak and boring, and is certainly the weakest Beartooth song to date. However, the highlights of this album cannot be denied, as they are pretty solid metal/rock hits. It's worth the buy, as Caleb's talent still bleeds through the album many times and it is still overall a lot of fun to listen to for the summer.

Favorite Songs: "Always Dead", "Rock is Dead", "Hated", "King of Anything", "However You Want it Said"

Least Favorite Songs: "Fair Weathered Friend", "Censored", "Loser", "Burnout"