Beartooth – Pure Ecstasy Review

Beartooth have dropped their latest album, Pure Ecstasy, and it comes at a pivotal time for the band after vocalist Caleb Shomo publicly came out as a proudly gay man earlier this year. While the news sadly came with mixed reactions, many were looking forward to what the future held for the band. Pure Ecstasy is what’s next, and honestly, I’m not all that impressed.

Beartooth have been a staple part of my music library since 2014’s Disgusting. I’ve always loved the band’s approach to metalcore, blending hard-hitting instrumentals with brutally honest lyricism. Over time, the band pushed boundaries, heading into a slightly punkier direction, then, in later albums, having a slightly more radio-friendly metal sound. Later albums didn’t quite hit like Disgusting and Aggressive, but they still had a distinctly Beartooth vibe.

Then comes Pure Ecstasy, and I honestly don’t know what to think. Let’s start with the more positive aspects of the album. Instrumentally, the album has some absolutely killer heavy tracks. The title track kicks off with some sick, heavy chugs joined with screams from Shomo before evolving into a big, open chorus. It actually gave me hope for this album, which was quickly tarnished by the following track, Eyes Closed.

While Eyes Closed instrumentally leans more into the post-hardcore territory, that’s not my issue here; instrumentally, it’s great. What sticks out to me and makes this album almost unlistenable for me is the processing on Shomo’s cleans. Within the context of the mix, it works; it finds its space and sits within it well. But in the pre-chorus of this track, where Shomo sings “But now I’m dying to live with my eyes closed”, it genuinely sounds like a squeaky balloon, and it’s as grating as hell.

I’ve not been shy about my dislike for Jordan Fish’s production, and once again I find myself being critical of an album’s production choices, only to find that Fish is the one behind it all. Don’t get me wrong, his blend of overly polished, digital, electronic-infused radio metal does have its place, but it’s just not my cup of tea.

I like Beartooth, and Shomo has done a great job producing the band’s music in the past. So creatively, I’m unsure why they went down this route with the vocal processing. One thing that’s always been great about the band is Shomo’s cleans that sometimes had a few imperfections; it felt real. In Pure Ecstasy, it’s robotic, it’s autotuned, and it really pulls the album down.

Previously, I touched on Beartooth‘s lyricism, and while that raw honesty is still present in some tracks, Pure Ecstasy features probably one of the worst metalcore radio-rock songs with Stadiums. Instrumentally, it packs a punch; lyrically, it’s garbage. Whose idea was it to repeatedly throw in that “OH MY GOD” sample that sounds like Eric Cartman? Seriously? The whole song also puts out this overly boastful “I’ve blown up and fuck the people trying to hold me back”, adding that “stadiums made me”. It’s cringe as hell.

I do wish that I could rate this album higher, as at times I do feel like Shomo put his heart into some of these songs, touching on some of the struggles he’s faced both before and after coming out and being “finally free”, but I can’t see past some of the production choices or some of the more cringier songs on the album.

Overall, as far as Beartooth albums go, this is sadly one of the lowest on the list for me. The only real redeeming factor is the band behind the vocals, and if they dropped an instrumental version of this album, I’d definitely rate it higher. The band has always experimented with sounds and has been able to jump between metalcore, post-hardcore, and punk very well; Pure Ecstasy leans a little too far into the polished radio-metal that I’m not all that keen on.

Score: 3/10

Beartooth dropped Pure Ecstasy on August 28 via Fearless Records.