Review by Shannon Shumaker
It’s hard to decide what the best thing about Cut Teeth’s newest album Night Years is. The intricate guitar work on this album is absolutely amazing, the rhythm section is flawless and the vocals are just the perfect mix of rough and clean. The guitar tone that Cut Teeth have found is absolutely gorgeous, and the overall guitar work is flawless and sweeping throughout all of Night Years. In fact, it might be a sin to just choose one great thing about this album.
Each track on Night Years is strong in its own way. The rhythm section is particularly great on “Sea of Id,” with amazing bass lines that are strong, but not overbearing. The unclean vocals and screams on “Between Death & Taxes” are a great addition and they contrast well with the beautiful clean guitar parts on the track. The amount of layers that go into “Between Death & Taxes” (especially in the incredible drum work on this track) as well as the entire album as a whole is insane. Multiple vocals parts add an amazing level to the album’s title track, and again, the bass work on the song is incredibly strong. Cut Teeth also manage to shake things up with a pretty, slow intermission track “Rehearsal Dojo” and later with the fast-paced and hard-hitting, “King of the Mountain: A Romance Novel.”
The only downside on Night Years is that many of the songs, because of the intricate guitar work, seem to sound similar or blend into one another. It’s in the awesome rhythm section and incredible vocals, however, that this flaw is easy to overlook. One of the greatest things about Night Years is that it doesn’t sound like what any other bands are currently releasing – it’s unique, gritty and incredibly well-written. Night Years is definitely an album to listen to more than once, as something new shines on every single track with every repeat. By the time that the final song “Ashtray Sonata” ends, you’ll be ready to listen to it all over again.
Rating: 4/5
Listen to “Between Death & Taxes”