CaliAlive.com

Pulling Teeth from Baltimore, MD play metallic hardcore in the vein of Integrity, Left For Dead and Ringworm. The band features members of past Baltimore bands such as Slumlords, Desperate Measures, The Spark and Never Enough. They put out a demo in 2005 and a 10"/CD EP entitled "Vicious Skin" on guitar player Dom's label A389 in 2006 and have been very active with touring since then so I'm sure they've hit your town or will in the very near future. "Martyr Immortal" is out now on Deathwish (CD version) and A389 (12").

 

First off, I just want to say that the record layout is awesome. Great artwork and gatefold LPs are always awesome. I'd been anticipating this record heavily since I began to consider "Vicious Skin" one of the best things that came out in 2006. This record did not disappoint for me. It is slightly more metal tinged than "Vicious Skin" in my opinion. I think people who were into "Vicious Skin" will be into this album though because it is a good progression without straying too much from their previous record. The guitar work on the album is awesome and better than I've heard on a hardcore record in a while. I hate the term "shreds" but this is what Dom does on guitar for lack of a better term.

 

Standout tracks for me included "Dead Is Dead" which is a 40 second song that is fast paced, heavy and to the point. Also, "Stonethrowers" which starts off blisteringly fast and with tons of awesome guitar-work and then leads up to a heavy powerful break towards the end of the song and the lyrics "What are you so afraid" of are sure to stick in your head.  "Sick and Tired" is another favorite that is a heavier type of song that slows down the pace and stays heavy for the better part of the song. "Stonethrowers" and "Sick and Tired" along with "Basically Dead" from this record also appear on their 7" split with Frightener, an awesome band from the UK. The album eventually ends with the instrumental track called "Dismissed in Time" which adds some samples and spoken word by Dwid Hellion over the top of the music and clocks in at over 7 minutes.

 

While the album is awesome all the way throughout, I feel that the first half has a lot more memorable songs than the 2nd half but I think it's cool how some of the final songs try some different things.  One of those songs is the title track "Martyr Immortal" which fades into a dark part with light guitar at the end. The next song "Black Skies" also fades into a slow eerie guitar outro. The album seems to be more high energy at the beginning and progresses to emphasize slower, darker parts later. This is a cool way to end the album in one way but makes the second half drag a little more to me and that is my only criticism.

 

Bottom line, this is a great record and one of my favorites of 2007 just like "Vicious Skin" was one of my favorites in 2006. This record is a good progression and is more metallic and a little more experimental with some more instrumental based songs and that keeps things interesting.  Yet another top notch release from Deathwish and A389. Highly recommended for anybody. Pick up "Vicious Skin" and their split with Frightener from A389 if you dig this record.

9/10