A couple of songs don’t resonate as strongly as others, but overall Crux remains a consistently strong listen. Whether mixing brooding balladry with stomping climaxes (“Through Ash,” “Crux”), moody prog with bluesy vocals (“Motionless in Sky”), or feisty rockers, such as the groovy and aggressive turns of “Thumb Spike,” or fabulously infectious and slightly offbeat hooks of “Awe at All Angles,” Moon Tooth largely nail the landing at every turn. It’s a refreshingly diverse experience, featuring the requisite smoothness of a well oiled machine, bolstered by turbocharged engines. Crux delivers tune after tune of fiery, addictive rock goodness muscular, emotive, and inventive. The song showcases tight and propulsive rhythms, slick guitar work, and the powerful pipes of frontman John Carbone, climaxing with a ripping solo and funky, saxophone-laced jam. Crux’s sturdy modern rock core, etched with progressive and metallic tendencies, is harnessed with increased deftness and focus.Įxplosive opener “Trust” kicks the door down to build immediate impact and momentum. Soaring choruses, catchy riffs and bright melodies lend the album its infectious streak, yet the heavy rock and often hard-hitting delivery brings the necessary grunt and firepower to proceedings. Here the songwriting is far more concise and cohesive, while the accessibility doesn’t feel like a blatant stab at mainstream recognition, but an authentic and necessary embracing of their freewheeling, colorful rock and knack for hooky songcraft. The aggression has been slightly curtailed from the debut but it isn’t detrimental to Crux. Despite lacking some cohesion, the album impressed and established Moon Tooth as an energetic and original band to watch.Ĭrux sounds like the logical next step in the Moon Tooth evolution, finding the band streamlining their sound into more accessible territory and retaining their knack for crafting addictive and dynamic tunes. The latter was a recent discovery and exciting, if scattershot album, whipping gritty and melodic heavy rock with metal and prog, shaping the combo into a colorful batch of potent tunes. Enter New York’s up and coming Moon Tooth, who created buzz with their Freaks EP and 2016’s Chromaparagon debut. Yet I admit, finding hungry and interesting bands that rock hard enough to appeal to the average metalhead can be challenging. Meanwhile, the brilliant Mutoid Man skew rock into madcap realms of genre splicing awesomeness. The mighty Clutch keep on truckin’, Royal Thunder stand tall, while stalwarts Mastodon and Baroness shed their metal roots for big, bold rock songs with progressive flourishes and skyscraper hooks. There’s rock that progs, and prog that rocks, while the incestuous bloodlines of the stoner, doom, and sludge scene are often tied to rock featuring plenty of quality bands. Sure, I’ve bitched about the state of modern rock before, but in reality there’s plenty of substance lurking around. “Rock is dead” is a tired geezer quote if ever I’ve heard one.
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