Variously described as ProgSludge, southern-punk-metal, and even Beard metal, North Carolina’s Tooth haven’t seemed to mellow with the years. Formed in late 2004 by guitarists Ben Wilson and Rich James, Tooth was conceived as a vehicle to give expression to its members heavier tendencies while bucking the genre-specific rules that plague the landscape of heavy music. Drawing from a pool of mutual friends and musicians that came up in the underground punk/hardcore/experimental scene in the college town of Durham, a line up was settled with Ryland Fishel on bass, Noah Kessler on drums, and JME Guptill on vocals.
Quickly making a name for themselves with thundering and energetic live shows, Tooth started to tour regionally, and joined up in 2005 with Durham independent label Churchkey Records to release the four song EP ‘Animality’ and a split 12” EP in 2007 with Philadelphia brothers-in-arms, The Claw, breaking up soon after the release of the latter to pursue other projects, but largely remaining in touch.
With the passing of years, the life circumstances of the five favorably aligned for a second time, and 2019 saw their resurgence. Tooth began rededicating their energy, focus, and fury to the project once again, using the downtime of the Covid pandemic to craft their forthcoming and sorely overdue first LP, allowing them to more fully explore the sound they’d forged and honed through years together and apart, and with which—crucially—they’ve seemingly stepped up their game once again, proving that time doesn’t necessarily soften the hard edges.
Treasure Pains formed in a small practice space in Durham, North Carolina, in January 2023. Zach Large ( member from Youth League) and Jessi Knop ( member from Wrecker) came together with the idea to start a band like Hot Snakes. They wrote a few songs before adding close friends Kellette Wade and Kyle Cox ( member from Wolvesx4). In January of 2024 they tracked their debut EP, “Charming” which was released by Los Angeles based label Wiretap in October 2024. In September 2025 they released Two songs on a Split EP with Portland,OR band Spares which was co-released by Council Records and Wiretap
