by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
There’s a wide range of music that falls with the rock genre between doom metal and jazz fusion. Sure both are best enjoyed high and both like to extended their songs to breaking points (though for generally different purposes), the crossover appeal between the two most likely isn’t super large. Portland, Maine’s Toothbrush is doing their part to bridge the gap. The duo of Sean Ahern (bass) and Chris Gervais (drums) make a unique brand of doom rooted in improvisational jams. There’s no long bong-hit riddled writing sessions, just a sludgy sense of adventure that pushes them forward into the darkness. Following last year’s Birds Aren’t Real EP, the band will release An Ocean of Sulfur Will Run Deep Through Your Veins via Midnight Werewolf Records (Kal Marks, Rong, Landowner), a thirteen minute exploration of “free doom” and all that entails.
Where your standard doom metal song can easily go thirteen minutes (or an hour) with the same bone crushing riff repeating its way into oblivion, “An Ocean of Sulfur Will Deep Through Your Veins,” a live recording, puts the duo’s improvisational fixation to the test. Shifting in and out of piercing noise in tandem with lo-fi sludge and stoned blues riffs, the band never stay in the same place for too long. They burn through ideas like clouds of smoke, passing from one dirty movement to the next.