Flicking through the mainstream press can be a rather dispiriting experience when you’re confronted by page after page of so-called ‘hardcore’ bands with suspiciously elaborate haircuts, so be thankful that bands like Pulling Teeth exist; guaranteed as they are to restore your faith in the genre.
Packing eleven tracks into just under fifteen minutes, the band’s ‘Vicious Skin‘ debut is a refreshingly unpretentious and brutal slice of crossover thrash-core, which should have fans of DRI, early Suicidal Tendencies and Municipal Waste wetting themselves with delight. Make no mistake: this is first and foremost a hardcore record with metal influences, as opposed to yet another tired exercise in the omnipresent metalcore sound.
There have plenty of brains mixed in with the musical brawn, too. ‘Prepare For The Worst‘ is a damning indictment of the human race’s selfish nature, whilst ‘Weapons Of Mosh Destruction‘ sees vocalist Mike Riley taking pit-Nazis to task as he howls “The only way you can compensate/Is by pounding on kids half your weight”. So listen up, all you idiotic Kung-Fu amateur types.
Check out ‘Heretic’ on the link above.
Alex Gosman