By DAN SOUTHALL
IT’S 2026 and by now, two consenting adults should be able to love whomever they choose without fear of judgement, so long as it isn’t affecting anyone negatively.
Earlier this year, when Beartooth vocalist Caleb Shomo kicked a closet door off its hinges, some fans were shocked or dismayed. This album is a journey of one man discovering himself, tearing his life down and rebuilding all at once.
Pure Ecstasy starts with the kind of raw honesty and passion that the band have built their brand on, the title track mixing metalcore with the pop sensibilities Beartooth have spent the last couple of albums developing.
The ability to weave the massive pop hooks really comes to the fore with tracks like “Bullshit” and the disco-esque “Stadiums”, as the music belies the lyrical content underneath. When the band does knuckle down, it is some of the heaviest music since the Aggressive era. Get through the sugary sweet of the former track and the sour inside is huge, before coming back to some mid-nineties RnB type stuff. Somehow, despite this schizophrenic nature, it just works.
The most touching moment is “Lose You Yo Find Me”, covering the moments and conversations Shomo had with his family and wife of 14 years, putting himself out there as the man he truly is. It is a genuinely heartfelt moment that so many of us really don’t have the insight or need to understand and is moving to hear.
Writing this album was obviously a massive cathartic experience. Every album Caleb Shomo/Beartooth has written is a snap shot of where he is in life … but this one hits differently.
The self-truths laid bare are the most intimate and honest moments I think I have ever been able to listen in to. If Pure Ecstasy helps one confused person find themselves, it will have done its job.
For the rest of us, just sit down, shut up and enjoy it for the positive musical force it is. If Shomo hadn’t come out when this album was announced, the average listener would be oblivious to just how close to the bone the lyrics are.
Really there is nothing different here other than the make-up Caleb Shomo now chooses to wear – and there has been heaps of make-up in metal over the years.
Get Pure Ecstasy on CD or vinyl
