3TEETH "EndEx" (2023)

 

Competently entertaining yet lacking a defining feature, 3TEETH returns, armed with a force of subdued aggression that gets wrapped up in its own mechanical dystopian aesthetics. Their fourth effort, EndEx, plays out a string of songs, ambling through intensities, wandering aimless along a disgruntled landscape of urban decay.

 Collaborating with Mick Gordon of Doom soundtrack notoriety, their combined chemistry yields little obvious beyond the siren likes synths that blare distress behind chunky guitar riffs. It feels like a missed opportunity to elevate the musical blueprint. Perhaps his influence goes beyond its credits as the whole record feels cohesive.

On first listen, EndEx felt like a flop, passing without grabbing my attention. Repetitious listens unveiled a lack of hooks and "bangers". This record has mood, aesthetics and atmosphere. It lacks songs, memorable moments and biting lyrics. Riffs are found within its arsenal, often disconnected from the music it emerges from.

Its most memorable moment goes to Ho99o9, the duos energy injecting much needed novelty to latch onto, their shout raps fitting the distress of the guitars. I'm left with little to say, a fun listen but lacks a command of ones attention to force its artistic intent.

Rating: 5/10

3TEETH "Shutdown.exe" (2017)

Aesthetically speaking this band are absolutely my cup of tea. On this record we step back a fraction from the metallic element with a tonal shift towards the Electro-Industrial hilt. Distortion guitars are dialed back in presence from the meaty Metawar. A stronger emphasis is placed on the sonic pallet of busying robotic noises. Font man Mincolla sounds no less of his own, although the Manson mimicry is minimal, his voice is drenched in distortions and dystopian effects that have him drift into the middle of attention, like another layer of detail in the web of machine like constructs.

These songs are dense and textural, a tapestry of whirling mechanical, electronic and alien sounds that coheres into a cyber punk world of neon lights and endless smog. Its slightly uneasy, unsettled and futuristic, capturing a detachment from the natural world as one could imagine it the soundtrack to a dystopian vision of the future. With a plethora of sounds they decorate the blood pumping baselines and smashing thuds of kick and snare grooves that propel the songs forward. Softly screeching synths play rattled melodies and potent power chords inject force through the guitar element. It holds together a firm atmosphere that reminds me fondly of my favorite Industrial acts but doesn't go to far in defining itself.

As mentioned, Mincolla finds himself in the middle ground with all the other instruments that never seem to leap out at the listener. They all work on the same temperament and thus the album is short on attention grabbing tracks. It is most notably apparent with a lack of sing along hooks as his garbled voice often blends into the wall of sound. Atrophy manages to pull off a killer number as its elements are laid bare, chopping in and out. It gives the guitar a real kick when it drops in and the lyrics to seem to ride that wave. The rest of the songs make up a passing experience that comes in various degrees but under closer inspection it doesn't bite quite as hard.

Rating: 6/10

Favorite Tracks: Atrophy, Tower Of Disease

3TEETH "Metawar" (2019)

Hot damn do I love Industrial Metal and what a big meaty slab of electrocuted industrious filth this record is! Metawar is the Californian bands third full length and its undoubtedly my cup of tea but I can't praise it for originality. A fine tuned titanium studio production and good songwriting holds it up well against the obvious influences worn proudly here. From Nine Inch Nails, to Marilyn Manson, Ministry to Fear Factory and all in between, everything at play here feels but a fraction away from vibrations and moods conjured many a time before them, however it does have its own stamp.

The one place they excel is with the thrilling eight string guitar sound. Its dense, tight and lavished in a bludgeoning tone that inches towards sounding like moving parts of an industrial piston powered machine of death! They ring out with big chunks of booming momentous noise, taking influence from the likes of Nu and Groove Metal in its rhythmic sense of bounce. Its a delight mixing in alongside the harsh and jarring synths blare out anti-melodies. They feed into the unsatisfied, angry and dystopian feeling of rebellion these songs cry like anthems. The battering drums and deep baselines ram themselves into the condensed wall of noise being propelled your way, its a cohesive force of destruction that batters with its industrial metallic might.

Singer Alexis Mincolla has a firm and defining presence in the limelight. Roaring with fiery, strained screams between twisted, tormented spoken words of infliction he sounds apologetically like Manson. If they shared a third factor its the ability to put a sung hook down in a nature that grabs your attention but living in the shadow of such an artist he only occasionally escapes that mold of seeming like his influence. Its so well executed that its no drawback. If your looking for originality it may only be in one department but when it comes to the music this will easily win over Industrial fans.

At forty six minutes it does run through a fair few mediocre songs. The energy and temperament shifts through aggressive, atmospheric and alien vibes to keep it flowing however after a handful of listens you'll suss out your favorites. Its best comes on a handful of tracks and despite sounding utterly sharp and pounding the songs don't quite reach for the stars. There is much too love here, much promise for this band and if they continue improving I could see this sound being pushed further.

Favorite Tracks: Affluenze, American Landfill, President X, Pumped Up Kicks

Rating: 7/10