Fangtooth – Fangtooth (2010)

Featuring two members of Exhuman, today we have Fangtooth, a Doom Metal band from Italy that blends traditional elements of the genre with some Stoner/Southern Metal influences and craft an interesting sound. Featuring six track totaling around 38 minutes of music, this self-title release shows a promising band that is still trying to find their sound.

While the genre is full of great bands, the younger bands struggle a bit to find their own identity. This is exactly what happens with Fangtooth in their debut full-length release; the band tries too many different things and ends up a bit short in achieving something very cohesive.

The guitar work is probably the best element of the band since it sticks to the traditional elements of the genre. There are some times when it blends into the Stoner/Southern Metal realms (like on “The Eye of God” and “Rise Again”), but it never goes too far away from the basics. The drumming is very well executed and very nicely mixed to never overpower the guitars and vocals, but always sounding crystal clear.

Vocal wise is where we have a problem, while the traditional clean vocals are just something that if you like the genre, they are tolerable, but if you come from another background, they will take some time getting used to them. Adding on top of them very deranged shouts, echoing vocals, growls, and just plain weird shit in songs like “Rise Again” will creep out many people away from this band. While this is nothing ‘terrible’, it will still make some people scratch their heads and move on to the next album.

Other songs like “Father” and “In Depths We Lie” are very crushing and melodic, creating yet another different facet for this highly diverse band. Closing the album we have “Cry of the Nephilim”, a truly emotional tour-de-force song that will seal the deal if you are Doom Metal fan, and will make you a fan of this band.

In general, we have pretty good songs “Father”, “In Depths We Lie”, and “Cry of the Nephilim”, that show that Fangtooth has enough quality in their ranks to make great Doom Metal. We also have some songs with maybe too much experimentation that take some credibility away from the band. We suggest that Fangtooth sticks to what they know best and just keep doing that, there is no need to re-invent the genre.

Release: 2010

Country: Italy