We might be tempted to call ‘Pure Ecstasy’ a return to form for Beartooth, but what even is the form we’re looking at? After years as the world’s premiere misery merchant, Caleb Shomo took a hard left turn with 2023’s ‘The Surface’ which was, dare we say it, optimistic and full of the hope that the world will become a better place. In the interim between then and now though, the vocalist has opened up about his sexuality and left his marriage, and it’s a truth universally acknowledged that personal turmoil makes for darker records. So, yes, we are back to the Beartooth of a few years ago, and the frustration which permeated their sound is back in force for the fans who like their Beartooth dark and bitter as espresso. But the present state of affairs is far deeper than that. ‘Pure Ecstasy’ is a record for those angry and torn between their commitments and living their truth, and every listen makes it crystal clear exactly when and why Shomo was putting his thoughts to music. It’s like listening to the audiobook of someone’s diary, backed with an unhealthy amount of shred, equal parts inspiring and insightful. We’re there with him for every second of his personal anguish.
The internalised hatred that spews forth in the opening thirty seconds of ‘Pure Ecstasy’ is the sound of someone on the edge of a cliff. “I’m not the battle, I’m the fucking war,” he screams on the title track, and there’s no end to the fighting inside just yet. ‘Stadiums’ is the most Nine Inch Nails moment of the record, all Reznor whispers and unflinching riffs. It might be a bit cliche to be screaming against the “self made prison” of being a successful rock star, but we can forgive the mild hypocrisy when the guitars are this gutsy. The one thing that seemed to flow through Beartooth last time they were this heavy was sadness. With ‘Sorry’, that’s been burned away by rage. No more apologies for being yourself, only fury against the barriers which held you back (even if they’re self-inflicted). These are the songs which are going to resonate for many Beartooth fans.
However, even though the riffs are addictive, there’s a distinctly disjointed quality on each song. The aforementioned ‘Stadiums’ features an ironic baseball organ section, and even the absolutely stirring ‘Beautiful Again’ channels Disney soundtracks on the verses. You could absolutely imagine an animated animal singing a SFW remix of ‘Free’ in front of a castle before setting out on a quest. But that’s what you get when you’re listening to the private, reworked for public consumption: not all of it has to make sense aside from an internal logic. There isn’t a song written for anyone except Shomo himself on this whole record, making the album effectively an update to his own personal emotional bulletin. Perhaps this is the most powerful thread he’s carried through all of his music: his unflinching and admirable commitment to be honest to himself. This spirit finds form in songs like ‘Lose You To Find Me’, Beartooth’s Y2K Emo Moment, and it’s oddly charming to feel their awkward rebirth along with them.
If the fury and conflict sent you into a spin, this record ends with a definitive resolution – a distinct and clear resolution to the entire saga. ‘I Made It’ is the sound of triumph, of burning your bridges to light your way forward. It is the perfect metaphor for the experience of listening to ‘Pure Ecstasy’: yes, it will be a record that burns the bridges for some fans put off by the cute moments and the lack of sadness, but it’s also one that lays a path for fans who love the heavier, conflicted sound, to find their way back home. Now the cards have been reshuffled both personally and musically, the future’s looking vibrant for Beartooth.
Kate Allvey