EP REVIEW: Fracture/Decompose – Cutting Teeth

Bursting out of the seams of metallic hardcore to add another notch of exciting authenticity on the belt of British metal are CUTTING TEETH: a four piece with a frenetic sound that with a few tweaks, you can see catching like wildfire across the underground. New EP Fracture/Decompose doesn’t quite manage to put the quartet on a pedestal, but it certainly announces their arrival with aplomb.

Fracture/Decompose sits in between a strange dichotomy of sounding both refined and loose at the same time. Blistered takes nods to EMPLOYED TO SERVE‘s ravenous, yet tight hardcore assault whereas Reason To Give‘s more expansive, progressive tone allows CUTTING TEETH to take a deep breath in fresh surroundings. The quartet sound comfortable in both areas – meaning what comes next could sound like anything from OATHBREAKER to CONJURER: quite an exciting thought.

Diathesis and Misanthropy have the rampant level of stomp that you’d associate with classic hardcore, and the scratching force of vocalist James Thurlby‘s furious voice sounds utterly fierce in these surroundings. The flickering shreds from guitarist Adam Jones adds a solid backbone to the latter too: it’s chaos embedded in chaos. While nothing stands out as earth shattering here, there’s undoubtedly a foundation being built that CUTTING TEETH sound capable of capitalising on.

At a time where British bands appear to have fell back in love with a more authentic, industrial sound – CUTTING TEETH are striking while the iron’s hot. Fans of the likes of CONJURER, PALM READER, and even MILK TEETH to some extent are almost certain to jump on board here. Whether CUTTING TEETH will ever be able to craft a record that takes them to the level of some of their aforementioned peers remains to be seen, but for the time being: this is an exciting precursor.

Rating: 7/10

Fracture/Decompose is out now via self-release.

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