Teeth of the Hydra - Greenland

Teeth of the Hydra
Greenland
Tee Pee Records
Grade: A-

With their evocative name, Teeth of the Hydra would have you believe that they are undead skeleton warriors sent from the underworld (or Columbus, OH) to rock you out with their self-described “1970s black metal”. While their indebtedness to bands like the Melvins and Celtic Frost are obvious, it is also no detriment to the band’s label debut. Greenland is a loose concept album with songs about a man who “falls through a crevice on a fishing trip” (Sawing Through the Ice) and a man who is sentenced to work in a nuclear facility (The Garden of Rotting Teeth). But back-stories aside, what makes the album work is that it is visceral and unadulterated in its musical approach. The guitars are raw and unaffected, the bass growls and the drums pummel. Album highlights are “Nine Heads” which culminates in a series of syncopated start-stops punctuated with microphone feedback followed by “Eruptin’”, which has a truly wicked (in a Tony Iommi/Buzz Osborne kind of way) guitar line that morphs from foreboding Sabbath to waves of sonic destruction.