Teeth of the Sea – Highly Deadly Black Tarantula
London quartet Teeth of the Sea have always played their own game rather than that of others. Nominally part of the modern 'psychedelic' scene, but with roots in noise and metal as much as krautrock and prog, they have been one of Britain’s foremost experimental groups for nearly a decade now. Their last album proper, 2013’s Master was a near-perfect record: an odyssey-esque journey across disparate sonic terrains that managed to be both physically and spiritually enlivening. At some points it was truly gorgeous, at others it was supremely danceable, and then just occasionally it was brutally primal – no more so than during the triumphantly brilliant closer ‘Responder’, a track most bands would be unable to match over the course of an entire career.
Fourth LP Highly Deadly Black Tarantula isn’t exactly an attempt to outdo its predecessor. Master came across as the sound of a band determined to push things to the max. Even during some of its most ambient moments it felt almost full to burst with ideas and textures. This record sees the band strip things back considerably. There’s the same diversity of sounds and approaches – however on this occasion minimalism is very much on the agenda. This has two primary effects on the listener: firstly one is left with more time to focus on the individual elements of each track, and secondly one is left with little doubt that this band is capable of working strictly within self-imposed limitations...
Read the rest of their 8/10 review here: Drowned in Sound
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