“I should have seen this going south.”
Swollen Teeth have been a group with names circulating around them and involved in the project, that has given a tinge of expectation for what is to come. The likes of Sid Wilson and Ross Robinson of Slipknot are close to the band and with the former even producing their self-titled EP and the latter signing them to his label that was founded with Eric Whitney and Bill Armstong. This sitting with the apparent re-emergence of nu-metal as a popular genre, since it’s peak in the early 00s, has created fertile land for Swollen Teeth to break through.
Opening track “Empty” bellows out with yelled vocals that are akin to those found in Higher Power, with pounding drums and whirring riffs hitting that track that make the Slipknot influence evident from the get go. Before any real judgement can be given, the song descends into repeatedly spelling out “Swollen Teeth” which has an arse-ended feel to it. Turntables and sirens are mixed into the opener in what is slowly becoming a tick-box exercise in what to include in a nu-metal track and the sense this could be a drawn-out experience already begins to settle in.
There is little improvement with “Car Crash” as the yelled vocals return from both vocalist, which simply give the desire to hit skip on the track. The repeated use of the double kick with standard grooves and the occasional snare fill soon becomes tiresome come “Bike Ride“, the attempt at pulling off a black metal-esque outro completely falls flat when the vocals do not seem to keep pace with the track instrumentality.
The title track does little to deviate from the path Swollen Teeth have set themselves on, while a furious breakdown adds some momentum, a strange deep bass is floated around the track that distracts the ear away from this. As “Crooked” enters the foray, the sentiment that little lyrically has been memorable settles in and it closes out with “You will never want to be me” repeated, it becomes apparent as to why.
The blunt truth with Swollen Teeth is that no matter the labels that may sign you and the artists that may work alongside you, fundamentals such as noteworthy songwriting and a creative offering underpin what makes a record good. A lot of Swollen Teeth comes across as a faded and hazy memory of what nu-metal was in the past, rather than an attempt to look forward and what it could be in the future.
2/10
Swollen Teeth is out this Friday via Blowed Out Records.