Garrett Roskam

10/10 - Blew me away. If you thought 3TEETH's "Shutdown.exe" was good, you're in for a treat. --- [This review comes after one full album listening session and select track revisits. May update later.] 3TEETH's latest album METAWAR is the best industrial album I've heard in a long time. What they've made is powerful, incisive, and well-crafted. Touring with Rammstein and Tool (even with good connections) is something earned. They've improved in every way a band can. The dystopian picture painted on METAWAR is colorful, pushed to maximum saturation and then to complete overload. This album is the closest one can get to the feeling of overwhelm one gets from social media, mass surveillance, and political gridlock. "SELL YOUR FACE 2.0" is so close to home it hurts. Alex Mincolla has improved his vocal technique since Shutdown.exe. Consonants are clearer, his support is better, and the screams are better. He's expanded his toolkit, and it allows 3TEETH to explore beyond their wall of sound. Quiet moments are just as potent and biting as the loud ones. Tracks like "SURRENDER", "ALTÆR", "SELL YOUR FACE 2.0", and "THE FALL" can shine thanks to Mincolla's improved vocal production and technique. Chase Brawner channels his inner Wes Borland on this album. Dive-Bombing riffs pop up prominently on "AFFLUENZA", "AMERICAN LANDFILL", "PRESIDENT X", and "BORNLESS". The variance in riffs gives the impression Brawner is a sponge for anything vaguely considered metal. He's always got a cocktail mixed from the best of Korn, Ministry, Wes Borland, and hundreds I couldn't name. This time around, Justin Hanson's drumming is more syncopated, leading to driving punk grooves, particularly in "AFFLUENZA" and "BORNLESS". Hanson's starting to favor tasty hi-hat work and snare ghost notes over blast beats, and I'm all for it. Xavier Swafford (keys, synths) and Andrew Means (bass, synth) bring more to the table this round as well. In fact, it's hard to isolate a track where they excel, since the entirety of the album is rock-solid. 3TEETH's titanic sound is thanks to the rock-solid foundation Means' bass provides and the atmosphere from Xavier. 3TEETH stays true to themselves, as originals. They pay homage to previous industrial acts, but they're not trying to emulate them. The way you get another album on the level of "The Downward Spiral" isn't by imitating it, but by making "METAWAR".