ALBUM REVIEW: Moon Tooth - Phototroph
Moon Tooth are an eclectic progressive metal outfit based out of New York. They blend hard rock, bluesy-country, heavy metal, and neo-prog that evokes contemporaries like Mastodon.
They’re wildly adventurous and remind me of the early days of The Mars Volta. It’s exciting to hear a fresh take on guitar rock.
Phototroph is one of the year’s most eagerly-awaited rock albums and it’s fantastic. A cohesive record that should be played loud.
The artwork is gorgeous. The vocalist John Carbone said, “The theme of plants growing towards the light was just something I kept coming back to in different songs.” There’s a track called Nymphaeaceae, which is the definition of a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies.
Back Burner is an anthemic rock composition with a delightful guitar solo.
Deathwish Blues is a wonderfully fast-paced song that reminded me of Iron Maiden at times.
Alpha Howl veers towards speed metal with complex guitar riffs, pounding drums and a leading bass line. O My Isle is an introspective piece and the title track Phototroph is a headbanger, which I read is an organism that uses energy from sunlight to synthesize organic compounds for nutrition.
The riffs themselves draw inspiration from and combine pop-punk, grunge and a bit of funk with your average metalcore style riff.
They’re a truly progressive band, but they’re fun. It’s a “poppy” release, and I mean that in the best way possible.
