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'Soul Gutter'



(Kernkraftritter records - 2020)










MARK: 85/100




   

Prologue
   
After an EP with a slightly different line-up here comes the first full-length, a brief album lasting just a little longer than 26 minutes from the Bavarian trio defining themselves as Speed/Thrash Metal. As we'll see later there's much more to that blend as one would easily predict.


   

Package
   
The versions in my hands are a digibook (a slim digipack CD) and a vinyl, the first accompanied by a 12-page booklet, equipped with a sleeve for the disc and one for the booklet. The vinyl instead only has one sheet.
Along with them Wolf J also kindly supplied me with a few stickers and flyers about the album release and the current live dates.
   

Visual aspect

   
Starting from the front cover we can see the title of the album, the band's logo and a painting by Venezuelan artist Jesus Lhysta (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1353733501813477&set=a.116987698821403) portraying the skull of a gigantic carnivore lamb, far larger than human skulls piled at its sides. It represents mud oozing from the soul as well as the band's monicker of course.
Inside the digipack and on its back the same theme is reprised, but with an enlargement of the skull at pages 2 and 4. In the third the front cover artwork is depicted again, as well as on the pocket containing the disk.
On the back the titles of the 7 tracks and the references of the CD as a product and the label ones are shown.
All the package of the CD (bar the disc) and the vinyl (bar the central part of the black sleeve containing the platter) are in paper, following a zero plastic use and consumption policy.

The disc comprises the front cover artwork in full.

The booklet begins with the first page repeating the front cover artwork, the inner pages include the lyrics on a black and white background, as well as a detail enlarged from the front cover.
Other pages exhibit colour photos of the group's members sided by a a page in black and white with the enlargement of a human skull seen earlier.
The penultimate page displays athanklist, info about the tracks production and lastly the label's contacts.
The last page portrays the enlarged human skull in colours plus the references of the label and product.


The vinyl represents the same artwork mentioned before, of course larger, with the sheet containing the lyrics, in this case more readable.
The first 4 tracks are on the first side, and the remaining 3 on the B side.
   

Trivia
   
The get-out guitar solo on "Snakebottled", the last song composed by Teeth Of Lamb, was delivered by Max Mayhem from Evil Invaders.
   

Lyrics
   


All the lyrics are composed by the 3 members in team, exactly as it happens to the music composition and arrangements.
All of them are embued with negative feelings and situations, which are in detail as follows:

* somebody hating someone else, looking for a grave revenge after being deceived
This is my fave one as I've been involved in these situations and have often fulfilled my revenge in a way or another
* blood on the hands of the Christian Church that has been killing atheists, infidels, heretics, uncomfortable people both with the Inquisition and the Holy War
* the description of the descent to hell of a person who's aware they won't be allowed to go back. This person committed unintentional suicide and then they realize it worked.
* somebody who's been tortured for years and now can execute their revenge by making the enemy die a slow death
* the chaos ruling our souls


   

Engineering and quality sound
   
There's difference to some degree between the sound of the vinyl and the CD, but as usual I prefer the cleanness and louder impact of the digital format.

The drums were recorded by Wolf J. and Jacob Lisotte at the Teeth Of Lamb headquarters, while the mixing and mastering were performed by Torsten Sauerbrey at the Metal Sound Studio situated in Osterode/Lerbach.
No digital amps or keyboards were used on this record.
The guest guitar solo by Max Mayhem was reamped at the Teeth Of Lamb recording studio.

Although the recording isn't bad at all, I would have preferred the bass lines louder in the mixing in order for that to be hearable more often.
   

Track-by-track musical analysis
   


The first instrumental composition of the platter, "Hangmanwalk", appears to be a brief Speed/Thrash Metal number kicking off with drumwork similar to punches in the face with the listener used as a punchball. There's also a short fragment of Power Metal in Helloween style, and a finale showing off a concise Malmsteenian lick.

With "Snakebottled", the last song composed by the Teutonic quartet, Wolf J's corrosive vocals become immediately clear to those who have never listened to anything from this German act. They open the song leading to a mid-tempo riff which gradually evolves into a fast Thrash Metal bit of riffing. The vocals return and some Power Metal riffs blend with them until it comes the time to make way for a riff strongly reminding me of the Metallica of the "And Justice for All" era. This happens just for a handful of seconds, and later on the aggressive structure met before comes back.
Afterwards, several less heavy breaks interposed before quick parts, with the guitar mixed loud so as to rule the rest of the instruments.
It is then time for a more controlled portion acting as a bridge to a good 3 axe solos: fast and occasionally ear-piercing, they prelude the comeback of the refrain, and subsequently, another set of riffs and 2 additional guitar solos. These embellish the song until a tight riff at the end.
This composition explains what is positive about the German combo, that is that the tracks are very various and rich in ups and downs, as well as abrupt brakes and accelerations.

"I Am Your Religion" starts with a Neoclassical Speed Metal riff, then it veers toward Power Metal, and a few seconds later to a sort of rapid Thrash Metal in the vein of Destruction, Sodom and the likes.
When a verse with blackened Thrash Metal throating and guitar squealing comes, the guitar player delivers another riff and finally the refrain arrives with a crushing palm-muted riff. A Power Metal chip with a late blastbeat is followed by a new musical slice where Power and Thrash Metal duet with success.
The refrain reappears before a seducing instrumental part involving a great deal of dynamism, in which the Speed Metal riffs anticipate 2 guitar solos quite different one from another. Once again the refrain peeps in, ensued by a Power Metal part emphasizing the kick drums work more and more, which is in its turn emprecioused by Helloweenian licks when the track comes to a close.
This song is also accompanied by an official video ("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdbSKowcGiw").

A few pungently-effected notes obtained from one of the strings of a guitar headstock open "Onewaytrip to Hell", showing the protagonist's undisputable and inevitable descent to hell. After this sort of intro, a whirling mid-tempo riff conducts to another mid-tempo one, on which Wolf J's Black Metal sandpaper-like vocals stand out. The spotlight is then occupied by a Black/Thrash Metal part moving on a mid-tempo, replaced by the previously heard mid-tempo riff, where the vocals grow sharper and more scorching, similar to high moans.
Successively a Thrash Metal breakdown leads to the most Speed Metal partition of the record with 2 superfast guitar solos, the finest of this platter. The Speed Metal episode stops, immediately followed by a mid-tempo that - after a really brief pause with an explosive drum roll - clear some space for a refrain with the extremely acid vocals listened previously.
The mid-tempo goes on until the final seconds of the composition, with the drums pounding harder and harder till the end. After a short stretch of silence, the hellish guitar notes of the inception are repeated again.

Straightaway fast-paced and 100% Thrash Metal, "Prone to Violence" moves almost in the fashion of the early Overkill, even if here the vocals are much more wicked and guttural. Gorgeous guitar licks come before a sheer Thrash Metal riff, then a martial refrain is ensued by a lick, and later we get to a handful of different verses with mid-tempoed powerful riffing. Afterwards, a speed-up sustained by granitical drums preludes to an instrumental crescendo, and then to a long and articulate axe solo, wher the skinbeater first slows down and then hits hard and fast, one more time recurring to a typical Thrash Metal pattern.
Another break and Teeth Of Lamb U-turn rapidly to the venomously vomited refrain, whereas another lick soon accompanies the final verse. The last instants see a voiceless acceleration and the last stopped guitar riffs to close the piece, decidedly the best of the 7 appearing on this full-length.

The title track flings itself brakeless like a bullet, in less than no time it evolves rawly, to then arrive at an annihilating palm-muted riff preceeding the refrain; like a shot we hear a fairly skillful guitar solo which doesn't last too long actually, which prepares the listener for the replaying of the initial riff. This pattern gets interrupted, as we meet the nth rapid Thrash Metal riff and then another 2 guitar solos, the former eviler and the latter more joyful, sort of reminding the 80's Helloween. The refrain comes back and it is placed here to demolish everything before the last verse offers a wide array of riffs, some of which in staccato. The velocity increases in a Black Metal fashion utilizing an ultimate lick halts the assault.
There exists a rehearsal clip matching this song ("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYz92AsB6f8")

"Dad Blasted" is an instrumental track of only 43 seconds in the classic sign of Thrash Metal exposes a noteworthy Power Metal guitar solo, substituted by 2 guitar strokes and humming noise from an amp head in conclusion.


   






   

Value
   


If you are a Thrash Metal maniac who doesn't have enough of the albums of the most popular bands you need this album in your collection. If you love underground unpolished Thrash Metal blending Sodom, Destruction, Exodus, Holy Moses, Annihilator, the fastest Raven, Children of Bodom and the likes, you definitely have to listen to this album and obtain a copy before it sells out.
If you want to support the German scene, choosing Teeth Of Lamb means money spent wisely and it doesn't matter if they are not as important as the Big Four of German Thrash Metal from an historic point of view.
Also, the value of "Soul Gutter" will grow in time, especially as for the vinyl version.

   

Available versions
   
Kernkraftritter Records has made two versions so far, one in vinyl and one on CD, both with the same tracks but not with the same sounds, because the vinyl master was cut a bit differently.
Of course it's also available on digital versions on the label's Bandcamp pages as well as other digital platforms.
Personally, I find products under 30 minutes of length to be considered EPs rather than full-lengths, but maybe I'm being a little pedantic.
That's why I hope that one day "Soul Gutter" will be released in a version that will contain bonus tracks that didn't make it to the album, if any.
   

Conclusion
   
There is nothing more German Metal than "Soul Gutter" and I mean that mostly in a positive way. The only aspect that I found hard to assimilate on the first listens were the Helloween-like parts, not because they sound retro but because they sound slightly too happy for my taste when they are so close to a dark and primitive series of musical structures so strongly in contrast. Besides that, we're in front of organic true Metal with a very good guitar work that shreds and kills.
Disconnect yourselves from your phones and get into the pit!
   


   

MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - November 12, 2022
   























Tracklist:

1. Hangmanwalk
2. Snakebottled
3. I Am Your Religion
4. Onewaytrip to Hell
5. Prone to Violence
6. Soul Gutter
7. Dad Blasted








Discography:


-Termination World (demo - 2017)
-Teeth Of Lamb (EP - 2018)
-Soul Gutter (full-length - 2020)





Line-up on this album:

Wolf J - g., v. (also in Striker, ex-Fallacy)
Piepsi Panik - b.
Jacob Lisotte - d.










Contacts:
Amberg, Bavaria - Germany

E-mail: 
Website homepage: 
http://www.teethoflamb.com/









Official links:

Facebook
Bandcamp
Spotify
You Tube











DON'T MISS THIS ALBUM'S VIDEO REVIEWS IN ENGLISH AND ITALIAN:

English video review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy3DkTsBfa8

Italian video review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXKNia-u0eo



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