ALBUM REVIEW: Moon Tooth - Phototroph

Moon Tooth are an eclectic progressive metal outfit based out of New York. They blend hard rock, bluesy-country, heavy metal, and neo-prog that evokes contemporaries like Mastodon.


They’re wildly adventurous and remind me of the early days of The Mars Volta. It’s exciting to hear a fresh take on guitar rock.


Phototroph is one of the year’s most eagerly-awaited rock albums and it’s fantastic. A cohesive record that should be played loud.

The artwork is gorgeous. The vocalist John Carbone said, “The theme of plants growing towards the light was just something I kept coming back to in different songs.” There’s a track called Nymphaeaceae, which is the definition of a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies.

Back Burner is an anthemic rock composition with a delightful guitar solo.

Deathwish Blues is a wonderfully fast-paced song that reminded me of Iron Maiden at times.

Alpha Howl veers towards speed metal with complex guitar riffs, pounding drums and a leading bass line. O My Isle is an introspective piece and the title track Phototroph is a headbanger, which I read is an organism that uses energy from sunlight to synthesize organic compounds for nutrition.

The riffs themselves draw inspiration from and combine pop-punk, grunge and a bit of funk with your average metalcore style riff.

They’re a truly progressive band, but they’re fun. It’s a “poppy” release, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Ed

Hey! I'm Ed, I'm 36, I live in the Bournemouth area, and I deliver local produce to people's doors.

I'm a mega music geek - pop/rock and indie is my favourite. I like a variety of genres from the '50s and '60s to the present-day. I adore the '90s, particularly Britpop.

I'm also passionate about film, books, history, and politics - I'm a member of The Labour Party.

I also love walking, holidays, going to the theatre, eating out, and I still enjoy festivals and parties every so often.

I support Sunderland A.F.C.

I have a cat named Sasha.

I run on strong coffee.

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