Faetooth has a new story to tell us.
Formed in 2019, the trio of Jenna Garcia (bass/vocals), Rah Kanan (drums), and Ari May (guitar/vocals)—previously accompanied by a fourth member—released their first EP that same year, then waited three years for their debut album. In 2025, they are supported by The Flenser label for the release of Labyrinthine, their second album.
We are first captivated by the dark dissonance of Iron Gate, a very dreamy opening track featuring the enchanting voices of the musicians, but the saturation ignites the rhythm, giving it thick sludge tones and invoking screams that join the clear vocals. Any notion of calm is now haunted by heaviness until Death of Day allows us a brief moment of respite, finally weaving its intoxicating melodies that will inevitably end up bursting into flames under the heavy groove. Our minds are easily swayed and transported to It Washes Over, where we temporarily rediscover gentleness before the riffs become heavier again, recreating the contrast with the haunting clean vocals, but the track passes in a flash and gives way to Hole, a composition that is also calm at first glance, but whose rhythm gradually slows down. The soft tones become disturbing, then race ahead once again, even giving way to screams during a peak of intensity and in the final, followed by White Noise with its very regular but numbing riffs that once again erupt without warning, mixing Ari and Jenna‘s voices for a striking duet. The song’s stoner influences give it a fairly natural, catchy groove, while Eviscerate favors hazy shoegaze roots to weave its dreamlike atmosphere before setting it ablaze and throwing us into its violence, which at times seems borrowed from post-black metal in its most visceral moments. The band slowly lets us drift towards the waves of October, the next composition, which remains fairly moderate and allows us a moment of true calm before Mater Dolorosa takes over with much darker and more overwhelming sounds, almost painful to endure at times. The DSBM-style screams return in the abrasive ocean before granting us one last break via the instrumental The Well, which offers fairly calm, airy melodies in the background, but which quickly gives way to the long Meet Your Maker, which begins very gradually and captivates us before sparingly integrating heavy sounds into its riffs, while letting the vocalists lead the dance in this final luminous whirlwind that ultimately disappears into limbo.
Faetooth is both one of my discoveries of the year and one of my favorites. With Sludge’s strength and Post-Metal’s beauty, the trio has succeeded in making Labyrinthine a true moment of mental contemplation between shadow and light, perfect for facing the winter.
95/100