Beartooth Essentials

Although Caleb Shomo formed Beartooth on a lark after exiting Attack Attack! in 2012, the throat-shredding screamer's new band quickly became one of the biggest exports from Ohio's fertile heavy music scene. Corrosive punk riffs and thrashing hardcore tempos slam up against lurching metalcore breakdowns, creating a vortex of aggression churning with restless, abrasive energy. Appropriately, Shomo's insecurities are never far from the surface. "Disease" questions whether escaping emotional pain is possible, while the mosh-worthy "Loser" and fist-pumping "Beaten in Lips" look for the silver lining, and encourage people not to let darkness win.