Red In Tooth And Claw
‘Compassion without compromise can only thrive when I include myself’
We are by our very nature animals, we are predatory, we observe and evaluate our environment, we are gatherers, we desire companionship and crave anonymity as the situation transpires. Our friends Sharptooth are in reflective and introspective mood as they dissect the human psyche and reveal their findings in ‘Transitional Forms’ a brain busting collection of ten tracks to crash around to. The opener is ‘Say Nothing ( In The Absence Of Content) and it is a classic hardcore, devil in the detail number containing the wondrous ‘mosh call’ it is a rallying cry people and you need to listen. We find amongst the dirt and dust several references to humans as worms, notably in ‘Hirudinea’ which is a type of leech, sucking the life out of unsuspecting persons and leaving them drained and devalued. The single ‘The Gray’ tells us that all is not black and white. We need to unearth the grey areas to fulfil our time and worth in this life. A special appearance from Justin Sane( oh yeah!) on ‘Evolution’ adds interest as we discuss social behaviours and reasoning. Singer Lauren Kashan is the USA equivalent of our very own Larissa Stupar ( Venom Prison), intense in vocal capacity and extremely important in the progression of female artists in this industry.
Replete with acute, abrupt and jarring arrangements, the music sends tremors through your being, even the melodious sections harbour a sense of the ominous. This is a critical thinking lecture set against the backdrop of existential ideas and argument and accompanied by cut and thrust cries and growls of frustration, yep you’re right at home here folks.
A clever use of vocabulary is found in ‘The Southern Strategy’ we see ‘demagogue’ and ‘demigod’ accurately portraying real life predicaments.
The penultimate gnarly concoction is the sensitively titled ‘MPDB- Manic Pixie Dream Bitch’ it is a 2.18-minute rendition of womanhood. It is raw, vicious and with words like ‘use me ‘til I fucking die’ it warrants further exploration of the whys and wherefores of how we have reached this stage in our evolution. Or is the reality that we haven’t really improved on any of our ancestor’s habits?
The finale is a rousing, reach for the heavens number packed with emotion and a vehemence that is encapsulated in three words ‘ nevertheless I exist’, that’s it, right there my friends, a parting of the waters moment. Understand this and you will have attained a state of balance and parity and afforded yourselves an outlet for all the injustices and grievances that life has dealt you.
A message for those who have so much fun playing with our lives, for the corrupt, for the base, from the people you have crushed, ‘how fucking dare you!’.
Sharptooth – Transitional Forms out now via Pure Noise Records