Though Bestial Mouths has always floated around the darkwave hemisphere I feel as if its necessary to say that the act has somewhat transcended the genre and morphed into something that’s uniquely her own. A tribal sensation flirting with gothic undertones, a passionate ritualistic danse macabre that’s emotionally open and frustrated. Fires are raised as they are watered with tears and emotions echo and reverberate through each song. But as powerful as a message may be what sets Bestial Mouths apart from much of their contemporaries is one single element: their music fucks. Crude as it may be to say, it’s true.
Lynette Cerezo has been one of my favorite musicians in the modern industrial scene as far as I can remember, and there hasn’t been a single album that’s been a disappointment since she took the project under her own wing and DEAD LINES is no exception. Her killer crew of talent onboard includes the as-always phenomenal Brant Showers (∆AIMON/ SØLVE) serving as producer, with other names such as Zola Jesus alumni Alex DeGroot, Crune, and Wanda Melhalleb adding a little flavor to the album. Now let me point out a couple of my favorites from the album.
CHORD begins off the album and anyone familiar with Bestial Mouths is going to fall right in love with this track. A three-and-a-half minute banger of danceable ritualistic industrial music. It’s no secret that Cerezo is one of my favorite vocalists in the industrial scene and this track – and album for that matter – serves to continue that trend.
I really enjoyed the cinematic edge that HISS has going for it; moonlit and ethereal tones start the album, slowly working its magic into my veins whilst bass pulses slowly build up the song. We’re hit with industrial machinations around the one-minute forty second mark, a slow crawling technical achievement until it all comes together. A slow-head-bobbing worthy track.
SILLK opens with faint drums that get louder and louder before Cerezo’s witchy voice breaks through; spoken word hits us like a spell intertwining with briefly sung lyrics before the track pops open into a warped industrial beat. From there the track bounces between all the elements once introduced with a slight bit of noise texture in the background.
If I had to pick one last song to point out, I’d go for GARRAS. Probably the most furious track on the album, this seems more like a call to arms as Cerezo sings Dame Mis Garras. And if Google Translate is correct that means “Give me my claws” in English. A slight influence from d’n’b on the bassline, maybe, but crunchier and heavier than what normally comes out of the genre. Definitely a track that I’d slam on my workout playlist in a moment.
One of the few complaints I have on the album comes from DEADENING; the track opens up with static, analogue-horror like effects over a speech from AOC. While the speech is nice, it does run for over a minute long. I would have rather had the entire message interpreted into song; this eventually does come after the speech is over, and then we get a lovely three-and-a-half minute Bestial Mouths classic, but it takes a moment to get there. I can see this working on stage at a live show, but trying to casually listen to this at home or in the gym throws me off a bit and makes me want to get to the good stuff.
When I finished listening to Dead Lines for the first time around I said out loud to myself, “ALL KILLER, NO FILLER”. Unfortunately I had no one around me to witness the moment other than one of my cats, but the statement still stands and I have a being who can affirm my words. Honestly, though, these are a solid eight tracks and there’s not much downtime in between any of them; each track is a sensation, an interwoven amalgamation of industrial antics, darkwave passion, witchy spellcraft, thematic and political messaging that burns bright, and so much more. Probably gonna wind up on my top ten at the end of the year as per normal, but what else were you expecting?
