R.O.T.T. (inmyskin)
Negative Gain, 2023
8/10
The long running Sacramento outfit Bestial Mouths return with another batch of their goth, industrial, post-punk, New Wave, noise and metal nods, where Lynette Cerezo’s stunning vocals don’t disappoint.
“The Knife” opens the listen with dense electronic stabs amid the echoed singing that recruits both post-punk and electro-rock ideas, and “Vast Murmur” follows with plenty of dense buzzing via the ominous backdrop that welcomes a distinct dreaminess.
“Mind Tears” and “Slitskin” arrive in the middle, as the former uses breathy vocals before building into a mesmerizing delivery, while the latter carries a cinematic quality thanks to the fuzzy textures and firm rock tendencies.
Close to the end, “Innards”, the best track, is dense, busy and precise in a dark wave meets doom-pop sort of way, and “Road Of Thousand Tears” exits with a powerful, cathartic demeanor of gorgeous, emotional songwriting.
This is the 9th album from Cerezo’s creative mind, and the help from Brant Showers (AAIMON / SØLVE), Alex DeGroot (Zola Jesus) and Balázs Képli (nullius in verba) makes for a very unique blend of light and dark textures, and the hard hitting versus gentle dynamics are quite impressive, too.
Travels well with: Subduxtion- The Black Point; VvvV- The Wreck