California-based death metal band TEETH are straightforward about their aim—to play chaotic, heavy death metal and have fun doing it. Their new record, Finite, out November 26 via Translation Loss, delivers on that mission of straightforward, but also maddeningly chaotic, brutality.
“This album is considerably more adventurous than the previous record, The Curse Of Entropy. It’s definitely more dynamic, maybe arguably our most dynamic. It’s not just hitting you hard and fast,” explains vocalist Erog Ulug. “The reason we did this EP was because it was kind of the only thing to do—we had plans to tour in 2020, but of course, lockdown happened.
“And at this point, we were a lot more solidified with our lineup and had been playing music together for a while,” Ulug continues. “So, we were like, ‘OK, live shows are off the table; let’s just hunker down.’ We weren’t planning on doing another record this quickly, but it was kind of a matter of circumstance. It was definitely part circumstance, part the only thing the band could do.”
Those already familiar with TEETH, in addition to loving their harsh and rhythmic sound, might remember the cover of The Curse of Entropy for its terror-inspiring, psychedelic cover. Finite goes a little less hard with the artwork when it comes to chaos, for a very practical reason.
“With that record’s album art, it visually represents the intensity and the resistance of the album, but this one is a bit more inward and subtle, a little more introspective, so we wanted a cover that didn’t assault so much,” Ulug says. “But there’s also the sheer practical side of it— one misstep with the last record was, we didn’t consider where to put the logo. Now, it’s much more front-and-center.”
So, death metal logo mishaps aside, what’s next for TEETH after this surprise album drop?
“We’re already working on new songs, and we’re all in our 30s and have jobs, so we don’t have huge plans of touring our balls off, but we definitely want to get out there again,” says Ulug. “But the big goal is just to make more albums and write more music. We really do this because we just love making the music for its own sake. And that’s really the thing that keeps us going.”
For more from TEETH, stay tuned for record and touring announcements this year and next.
Check out the video for “Voodoo Priestess” here:
For more from TEETH, find them on Facebook and Bandcamp.
Photo courtesy of TEETH and Brandon Mavaddat
