MOON TOOTH

Moon Tooth is a Progressive Metal band founded in 2012 from Long Island. They have released 2 EPs, 2 full-length albums since 2013. "Crux" is their 2nd full length album and was released in March of 2019. This album consists of 11 tracks and has a total run time of over 3 minutes with all of the tracks under the 6 minute mark. The band line-up consists of John Carbone (vocals), Nick Lee (guitar and vocals), Ray Marte (drums and vocals), and Vincent Romanelli (bass).

The album opens up with full-bore heaviness with "Trust", a heavy rocking track with a fast beat and a lot of power and just the right amount of complexity to satisfy the proggers and enough accessibility to satisfy the heavy metal masses. According to the credits, there are two guests on saxophone, but you have to listen hard to hear it. "Omega Days" continues this complicated heaviness, but is less accessible with a melody that might be difficult to single out on the first few listenings, but there is still a lot of heavy progressive metal here, with a short, slightly quieter reprieve in the middle of the track. "Through Ash" slows things down to a moderate, yet solid beat, but still with plenty of heavy guitar. When the complex vocals start, the music mellows a bit, and it is easy to hear the complexity of the melody, which this time doesn't satisfy itself by settling in a traditional song pattern. The lyrics are somewhat complicated too, portraying a conversation between man and fire. This song is definitely a strong highlight of the album.

"Muskateers" returns to a more traditional lyrical scheme, but it is hard to tell because of the freedom of the vocalist, which is a good thing in this case. The overall beat is fast and of course there is still plenty of heavy guitar. "Thorns" is more complicated and adds more prog in the mix, though there is always an ample supply of complexity throughout the album. "Rhythm and Roar" is quite chunky and features some screaming vocals deep under the lead singer on some passages, but the melody is excellent and I actually find that I'm wishing this track was a bit longer. Interestingly enough, it actually finds time for a guitar solo in the short duration. "Motionless in Sky" continues with a fast,complex sound, but this time there is a piano in the mix which plays along with the solid complexity of everything else. The music does calm down when the vocalist starts, but don't think this is a ballad as there is still a high level of energy there.

"Thumb Spike" starts out with a rapid fire rhythm, but settles a slight bit when the melody settles in, but it alternates between driving passages and slower passages while everyone in the band, including the vocalist, stay tight and totally connected through the track (and the album for that matter). "Awe At All Angles" is another huge highlight of the album and it moves along at breakneck speed most of the way through with a great solo in the break. The title track "Crux" follows this and is surprisingly mellow after all of the onslaught of heaviness before this. Fortunately, the song remains on the progressive side of things, not really becoming a typical ballad ever. There is more use of dynamic in this track which is the one thing that is somewhat lacking, but that it a minor issue in this case. The track does eventually feature an extra heavy section with screaming, so don't get too settled into the mellower beginning. Yet again, another stand out track on an album that has a lot of them. The last track is "Raise a Light (Epilogue)" which ties the album up in a good way with a track that is no less filler than anything else on the album.

Don't let the standard timings on the tracks fool you, this is excellent prog metal with a lot of punch and power. The music on the album is quite lyrically heavy in spite of the heavyiness and continued complexity of the songs. The vocalist does an excellent job of pulling it all off, never completely settling into the melody, making everything even sound more complex. This is definitely a progressive metal band that is in no way lightweight, even if the songs are never more than 6 minutes long. Every band member proves that they are top-notch musicians as they all prove their ability by adding to the complexity of it all. There have been plenty of lightweight progressive metal bands out there, but rest assured Moon Tooth is definitely not one of them. The music remains solid and progressive pretty much all the way through. Some listeners may find that the music may take some time to grow on them, but the music is so great that it should make you want to keep coming back until you get totally familiar with it. I find the album very impressive, and even though I have the minor complaint that there could be a bit more dynamic in there, I also think this is the type of music that will grow on me even more, so the 4 star rating might even end up being boosted over time. Very powerful and definitely worth a listen and a very strong 4 star album.

Moon Tooth's debut EP is in many ways similar to their first LP, with a raw sound combined with unique, powerful vocals and regular changes throughout. The main thing that's different here is that the songs are slightly more conventional, especially in terms of vocal melodies, which aren't as all over the place here. All four of these songs are of extremely high quality, without a weakness among them. The energy present here is really fun, with really strong, groovy sections perfect for headbanging, particularly on the opening track 'Ebb/Flow', containing some really great, fun riffs. The other songs are equally as great in their own regard, making this an extremely good album all the way through, never letting up for a second in terms of quality. This would be an easy full score if not for it's extremely short length, and while I prefer quality over quantity, I'd still like some quantity to go with it, but for what it is (an EP), this is near perfection. I'd recommend this as the starting point for people who want to listen to Moon Tooth, as it's a very short album that nonetheless encapsulates their music perfectly, along with being slightly easier to get into.

Best Songs: all of them

Weakest Songs: none of them

Verdict: Just like their debut full length album, this album is highly recommended for those who really enjoy complex, heavy music with a bit of quirkiness thrown in. Definitely the best entry point for the band.

Usually when listening to some standard progressive metal, you're expecting something not particularly unique or amazing, but often well played and fairly decent all around, then there's Moon Tooth. Everything about this band is quite unique, having a wide variety of influences that vary from song to song, some being heavy, intense metal tracks, while others sound more like a garage rock tune. This highly eclectic style to their music is complemented quite well by the various guest musicians throughout, each choice lending itself well to the style chosen, most notably on 'Little Witch', which has a guest vocalist that is much more loose in technique, sounding much more like a punk or garage rock singer, fitting perfectly with the rest of the song. The compositions on the album are quite interesting as well, very rarely sticking to a riff or idea, instead jumping between many seamlessly, making even the shortest songs by the band highly complex.

This album also separates itself from other prog metal bands through how unrelentingly heavy and intense they are, definitely approaching tech/extreme prog in some instances, especially when the vocalist begins screaming. From the very first note of 'Queen Wolf' all the way to the end of 'Death and the Vibrant Architecture of Rebirth', the album is a constant bombardment of intensity, full of elements ranging from fast solos in 'Queen Wolf', to chugging downtuned riffs in 'Offered Blood', to more bluesy riffs in 'Igneous', continuing the trend of having each song sound distinctive throughout all twelve tracks. This has it covers a lot of ground with the biggest defining factor being the very raw sound it has. This leaves 'White Stag' as the outlier of the album, along with my favourite song from it, being more subtle and subdued in approach, creating some amazing atmosphere that reminds me of Ocean Machine Devin Townsend, have long, drawn out riffs that repeat extensively, taking the riff to its absolute limit before changing it up. This causes the song to sound incredible, due to the soundscape created by such a technique, making it a great way to close off a mostly highly intense, technical album. The final thing that draws my attention is the very unique, high quality vocals of John Carbone. He sings with an extreme amount of soul and power, more akin to that of, well, soul rather than modern metal, yet can also brutally scream or sound really fun and quirky if the situation calls for it.

Overall, Moon Tooth's debut album is one of extremely high quality, each song employing different styles and ideas, going through as many ideas and riffs as a Gentle Giant song, being extremely dynamic in essentially every way. The only real criticism I have for this is that I do find the album to be somewhat exhausting by the time I reach the end, most likely due to the extremely raw production the album has, but even so, I definitely want to see what this band will do in the future, because this is a great first effort.

Best Songs: Offered Blood, Belt Squeezer, White Stag

Weakest Songs: None

Verdict: Extremely strong, varied debut that leaves me with high expectations for the future of the band. I strongly recommend this to people who enjoy very heavy music that enjoy a bit of weirdness in it, as this album has both in spades.