Review of Yellowtooth - Crushed by the Wheels of Progress

I kinda dug, Disgust, the 2012 debut from Indiana’s Yellowtooth, founded and fronted by Peter Clemens who has served in more death metal bands like Invasion (an underrated US band playing Stockholm styled death metal before it was vogue) and Nocturnal Torment.  It was a groovy, crusty slab of southern drenched death/doom/stoner metal, and the follow up, though cleaner, has the same swampy bloodlines.

With moist whiffs of Crowbar, Penalty, latter Gorefest, Down, some Ben Hogg bands (Beaten Back to Pure, Birds of Prey) and even Entombed’s Wolverine Blues, Crushed by the Wheels of Progress is all about grooooooove man. The guitar tone is a bit crisper than the debut, and the vocals a little less gruff, and the tone a bit more up tempo and less doomy, but for the most part the hazy, skoal soaked, stoned out drawl is intact.

Crushed by the Wheels of Progress seems a little catchier also, as displayed by standout “Season’s End”, a down right bluesy rollicking number with some clean Southern croons thrown in for good measure, that is one of those band defining tracks.  But all of the tracks on the album display a similar knack of groove, haze and heft. You get some good ol fashioned rumbles like opener “Meet Mr Mossberg” and “Climbing the Mountain” and some smokier, moodier, restrained numbers like “Manifesto” (based on unabomber Ted Kaczynksi), the sprawling almost 9 minute title track and start of “Spiral Stairs”.

“Before I Return to Dust” and “Virginia Creeper” end the album with two standouts mixing both gravelly grooves and smoky saunters into fine bookends, the latter of which delivers a up tempo rocker. In all a kickass little album, in a genre or style that isnt my usual fare, but there is enough bite and burl amid the stoneriffic drawl to keep me very much entertained.