Beartooth released their third studio album Disease on September 28, 2018. This is the follow up to their 2016 album Aggressive and was produced, written, and recorded by their frontman, Caleb Shomo. Shomo recorded the vocals, guitars, bass, and drums, and mixed the album with the help from an engineer, now with executive producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush)
The album consists of twelve tracks that run for a total of forty-one minutes. It is a riff-driven examination of the unshakable struggles of depression. While there are moments of positivity throughout, it is not the sound of triumph. This music is a whirlwind of emotions and is not about winning anything, its about survival. Its about trying to begin to learn how to deal with things as they are thrown at you. It may not seem like it at first, but this album is very dark.
After a few listens of the album, the meaning behind it and what it stands for is so powerful. The battle with depression is clear throughout the entire forty-one minutes once you start actually listening to the lyrics. A lot of people in this world suffer from depression, and this album hits the nail on the head when it comes to the feelings of defeat and trying to look on the bright side of things. The main line that sticks out to me from all the track is from the song Disease, "Its like holding on, when my grip is lost". That line alone speaks to me on a personal level as it easily explains how I felt when I was going through my depression. No matter how hard you try to get through it and see the better things, it feels like its useless and nothing matters. The rest o the album goes on to reference how depression is a fight that feels like you're always losing and always being so far from the victory that you desperately need. In the song Afterall, goes on to express how easy it is to slip back into depression when you thought you were in a good place and had everything figured out. It describes how it can just sneak up on you. Infection goes on to portray depression as something that can seep into your blood, as if it were a contagious infection, very easy to catch and loose control to it. You're able to feel it inside of you and you feel crazy for not being able to do anything about it. The track Used and Abused goes on to describe the depression getting the best of you and you just giving up, as if there's no way to come back from the depths you've dropped to. Clever explains that people build walls to hide their depression, telling people what they want to hear just so they wont worry about you. It goes on to say "I feel like death and me are walking hand in hand" saying there's always the thought of how things would be if you were gone. "I feel my passing only benefits my friends" saying many people with depression feel like a burden to their friends and that they would be better off without them.
This album has so much meaning behind it and many people, if not everyone, will walk away with feeling some sort of connection to one or more of the tracks. There isnt a song on this album that I don’t love, Caleb Shomo really knocked it out of the park with this one. He poured a lot of himself into it and its very clear. He uses his own depression to put into words what most people cant describe when they are fighting the battle. I highly recommend giving this album a listen though at least once, you wont be sorry.
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