Beartooth: Swim For The Surface

Caleb Shomo definitely isn’t the same person anymore. The vocalist and driving force behind metalcore mammoths BEARTOOTH explains, “I’m trying to be more empowering to myself in my own life. The difference is, now, I have a completely different toolkit to deal with the problems that have always been there and those that will always be there.” 

Their new album, The Surface, is as clear a testament to this statement as you can make – it’s the opposite record to what fans will be expecting but, more importantly, a matter of survival for Shomo. “I made it my mission statement while writing The Surface, knowing that [Below] would be the saddest darkest record I ever write, I’m never going back to that; I will just not survive if I keep doing that.” Sitting in front of us now though, is someone who represents a positive change and outlook, but none of this has been achieved by accident. “I guess there’s kind of two things that I realised that had to change, that being the narrative, and I need to choose to really change the way that I’m living my life. It doesn’t just change. I spent a very long time just hoping it would change, and nothing fucking happened. It took a lot of work, a whole lot of work, and a lot of manifestation.” 

Perhaps it’s only through going to hell and back in his past after joining already established touring band ATTACK! ATTACK! at just 17 years old and subsequently in the following years struggling with a concoction of various substances and deeply dark thoughts alongside, all whilst growing up in the public eye, “it was crucial to where I’m at now, but it just was so physically painful”, that something inevitably had to shift. “I’m no longer afraid of death and being worried about what it’s going to mean at the end. I know what it’s gonna mean, that I tried my absolute hardest and gave everything I have to get the most out of this life, and I believe that to my core.” 

Caleb Shomo is a man who likes to plan ahead however, more than most. He’s had the titles of every BEARTOOTH record to date mapped one since day one, so it also begs the question – was their fifth LP outing always supposed to be where the road took a turn for the route less travelled? 

“The five records of my twenties and the story of my twenties, (Sick, Disgusting, Aggressive, Disease, Below and The Surface) stand for what BEARTOOTH is – or at least was. I assumed it was going to end like every other record ended, because they all did. History kept repeating itself over and over and over, and I was stuck and I couldn’t get out. And I was like okay, well, then I guess The Surface is just going to be another record that’s me stuck in the same place forever and I’m just going to keep beating this dead horse until I don’t know what it does to me. There was never an intention of it being a positive record, there was never an intention of it being a departure, honestly, I just thought I was doomed. To experience really the emotional bottom for me, the darkest place that I’ve ever been, it was the catalyst for The Surface being such a departure.”

This record’s purpose, however, though written from a deeply personal point of view by Shomo, is really rooted in its impact on those around him and their fans. As a band who are loyal and have been with their label, Red Bull Records since it all began just over 10 years ago and their UK publicist Emma equally as long, she quips that upon first hearing The Surface the reaction was, “lots of big smiles and emotions” – a sentiment that many longtime BEARTOOTH fans will resonate with when listening to what has already been released undoubtedly. 

“It was very scary for me, but the reaction that we got from (first single) Riptide was so overwhelmingly positive and that was so powerful to feel that support. I know for people really close to me, they were probably like, ‘what the fuck is he doing right now? Hopefully he figures this out’. But now, when all is said and done, I was very proud to send out that album for people to listen to, and it was met with people who are just happy for me. It’s cool to have had the same team throughout this whole thing, because they’ve been able to grow with me and they understand the weight of what it means when I say something real. I know for a lot of artists, there’s a lot of different levels of how much they are involved emotionally with their art. This is just me, but it’s just me speaking through my favourite language which is music.”

It wasn’t all smiles and plain-sailing when writing The Surface; between going cold turkey from alcohol just one week ahead of writing Riptide, and suffering a great loss in Caleb’s grandpa (his final conversation with him serving as the motivation behind “magical” ballad I Was Alive), there was a lot to contend with. If this wasn’t enough, most recent single The Better Me and poignant album track Look The Other Way both delve into something Shomo hadn’t anticipated. “I have always struggled with self image, but bulimia reared its ugly head again, which I hadn’t really been dealing with since I was about 19. I was just trying to gain any sort of control. One night I woke my wife up, and I just told her what was going on. And it was met with, I still love you and that it’s okay. Until I said something about it, It had so much power over me, but right when I did, it was gone. It’s wild how fucking powerful our words are, and speaking something into existence is crucial.”

From listening to this album, it sounds like the opposite of losing control, it sounds a decade in the making. Caleb‘s life has arrived at a much calmer, happier place in life. But does he feel like that’s where he’s arrived at now?

“Fuck yeah, absolutely. It’s taken a lot of hard work. What I’ve learned is that there are still so many things in my life that I will always feel out of control with, but what I’ve had total control over and always did and always will is me and what I do and what I choose to do moving forward, there is nothing that can shake me. A strong wind can come and it can fucking blow some of the leaves off but, I’ve been working on growing roots to stay fucking grounded and I’ve realised that that’s up to me what being happy is,” he says. “I’m seeing BEARTOOTH turn into this whole different animal that I’m trying to wrap my head around, there’s so much more nuance. I’m trying to be more empowering to myself in my own life. To be going into this new cycle with that and to be sharing that with people instead of just sharing the pain is incredibly exciting.”

The Surface is out now via Red Bull Records.

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