LA-based industrialists 3TEETH have racked up tours with Tool and Danzig in the past, and are going on a run with industrial metal legends Ministry soon, to give you an idea of where they stand on the totem pole. In case you were not aware 3TEETH are not a happy bunch, making Rob Zombie style songs about horror movie creatures, even more so on album no.3, METAWAR. They have a more than considerable amount of issues with the state of our planet as it stands, and they are going to spend twelve tracks forcefully informing you of this. They also cover Foster The People after all of this fury, but we’ll get to that. Given the, shall we say in the most diplomatic manner possible, interesting and challenging political landscape the world currently finds itself in, it’s hard not to be swept into this album’s mood as soon as HYPERSTITION begins. We are not getting a“right wing bad, left wing good” album, and no-one gets away unscathed.
With anything that has a political bend to it, its very easy for songs to just be vague “fuck the government” sentiments that don’t really say anything with any depth or intrigue. 3TEETH do not fall into this trap. AFFLUENZA rages against the “corporate incest” and how we are in its devious grip in the Western world, whilst EXXXIT hammers its horrible message of basically everything being an utter lie and farce. PRESIDENT X informs us that every leader you have will be just as horrible as the last, and the nihilistic nature just continues throughout.
TIME SLAVE has the hardest riff on the album, and it’s a standout. It sounds like glorious Godflesh worship, and it makes the listener want to stomp around the room like a kaiju that just found out it was mis-sold PPI. SELL YOUR FACE 2.0 is another highlight, with its awesome mid paced grooves. BLACKOUT has a great chorus and its intro recalls Fear Factory and keeps the late album momentum strong, and whilst THE FALL is the final piece of the puzzle, the grand “burn this mother down” conclusion that leaves the listener satisfied with the journey, you would assume that obviously the record ends here right? Well…..
The album ends on a very peculiar note, a cover of indie hit Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People. Now, industrial metal acts doing covers is not an unusual thing at all (Hi Fear Factory), but to pop it at the end of a record like this seems kind of unnecessary but almost detracting from the themes of the album. It’s not bad by any means, but it doesn’t really hit the listener that hard and honestly could have just been a b-side to a single. It just feels like a curio that only hardcore fans will truly cherish, whilst others will listen once or twice and then forget about it.
Sean Beavan’s production is hefty without sounding cluttered. Alexis Mincolla’s vocals aren’t right at the front of the mix, but it works to create a powerful vibe. Also, there are multiple riffs that sound like the soundtrack to 2016’s DOOM, and that is nothing but a compliment. Quite a few of these songs may well end up staples of industrial and goth club nights throughout the world (EXXIT really fits this bill, as does SELL YOUR FACE 2.0). It’s also easily the band’s best album to date, and should lead them to deliver their hard hitting, nihilistic worldview to bigger audiences than ever before.
8/10
Standout Tracks: TIME SLAVE, EXXIT, AMERICAN LANDFILL, THE FALL
For Fans Of: Godflesh, KMFDM, Rammstein, (old) Marilyn Manson
Written by: Louis Tsangarides
