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 J-me 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.
Listen: https://tooth.bandcamp.com/track/howl
MAKE: https://thebandmake.bandcamp.com/
Durham, N.C. sludge metal band Doomsday Profit have built upon their foundations of gritty, groovy, and psych-splattered sludge with their forthcoming self-titled album, out Sept. 19, 2025. Across the album’s nine songs, the band has embedded an even wider array of influences into their acerbic, dystopian sludge. Particles of monolithic doom, grisly death ‘n’ roll grooves, driving punk rock and scathing black metal all flash in the band’s raw recordings.
As ever, Doomsday Profit has a finger pointed squarely at the powers that be, but they’ve also learned to turn their ire inward, and balance their vitriol with melancholic nuance. This broader approach has turned their already dynamic performances into a must-see, with a live resume that includes Hopscotch Music Festival and Seismic Summer, as well as supporting slots with established acts like Thou, The Obsessed, Black Tusk, REZN, and Restless Spirit.
Listen: https://www.doomsdayprofit.com/
