Beartooth began as an emotional exorcism. Conceived, constructed, and unleashed byone man in a basement studio. Now, even as the band has grown to become a headliningfestival act; cracked Billboard’s Top 25; lit up SiriusXM radio; and were crownedBreakthrough Band at both the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards and LoudwireMusic Awards, Beartooth’s music and message remain intensely personal.The fierce dedication to honesty, authenticity, and raw fury demonstrated by CalebShomo is at the center of everything Beartooth represents. The music he’s crafted in hisdarkest hours transcends, connecting with the broken hearted and isolated around theglobe. Songs like “In Between,” “Hated,” “The Lines,” and “Sick of Me” have beenstreamed hundreds of millions of times. These are anthems for the downtrodden anddisconnected, celebrated with sing-alongs on international tours; supporting Slipknot,Bring Me The Horizon, or Pierce The Veil; on the Kerrang! Tour with Don Broco in theUK; at major festivals like Download and Rock on the Range.What began as artistic self-medication for a single multi-instrumentalist and producer,with no career aspirations or grand plans, quickly caught fire. The Sick EP (2013),Disgusting (2014), and the sophomore-slump shattering Aggressive (2016) comprise ablunt audio journal, chronicling Shomo’s battles with his own demons.As Beartooth became a fully functioning band, bringing these intimate musings to themasses, that purity remained, via a consistently isolated creative methodology.The stark look inward further intensified with September 28, 2018’s Disease.The third full-length album from Beartooth is a painstaking, riff-driven examination ofthe unshakeable throes of depression. While there are moments of positivity, this isn’t thesound of triumph. This is music about survival.“The album is a whirlwind of emotion,” Shomo explains. “Crazy highs, crazy lows, andlots of intensity. This record isn't about winning anything. It's about trying to even beginto learn how to deal with things. It’s hard to process just how dark you can get, what youcan really put yourself through with expectations. It's like starting from the beginning allover again. At the end of the day, it is a very dark album.”Even as Shomo and his bandmates played to sold-out crowds across Europe, the battleagainst mental illness and childhood issues returned, and the seed for Disease wasplanted. The title track was the first song written for it, setting the overall tone.As always, Shomo recorded vocals, guitars, bass, and drums, and mixed the albumhimself with assistance from an engineer, now with executive producer (and Grammywinner) Nick Raskulinecz, who has worked with Foo Fighters and Rush. To furtherenhance the emotional realism Beartooth champions, the third full-length album wastracked in a brand new environment, with an old-school urgency. After crafting the songsin his usual basement domain, Shomo made the trip from the familiar comfort of hisequipment and isolation in Ohio to Blackbird in Nashville.“When I make a record at home, I feel really safe there,” Shomo confesses. “Going intoBlackbird, there was a lot of fear. Thankfully, going into that environment just broughtout the best. It made the songs feel even more real. It was all worth it.”The famous recording studio was the birthplace of pivotal work from a massive list oflegends, tastemakers, and up-and-comers; like Alice In Chains, Taylor Swift, and GretaVan Fleet. Determined to challenge himself in new ways, Shomo kicked aside his drumsamples and digital guitar tones in favor of rich analog vibes, banging out take after take,to capture the feel of classic favorites like AC/DC and Motörhead.Ten to twelve hour days, six days per week, sweating and screaming throughperformances, resulted in gargantuan surefire Beartooth bangers like “Used and Abused,”“Manipulation,” and “Enemy,” easily among the strongest songs in the catalog. “YouNever Know” was written in collaboration with producer and songwriter Drew Fulk (FitFor A King, As I Lay Dying), after several hours of conversation in a coffee shop. Thealbum closer, “Clever,” was written in an afternoon at the studio, a fittingly sorrowfulbookend to Beartooth’s darkest album.“Depression is something that's just ‘in your head,’ there's no reason for it, so it ‘should’be easy enough to just get over, but I can never do it. It’s something unshakeable. I can’tmake it work,” Shomo says. “I wanted to write an album about that. Disease reallyencompasses everything emotionally that I wanted to convey.”Shomo’s commitment to raw and personal truth will always define Beartooth. “It's veryimportant that I stay honest with every song that I write. I didn't even mean to start thisband. I wrote a couple songs and I felt way better afterward. Especially with this record,there are no compromises. It is exactly what I wanted to make.”With Beartooth, what begins each time as the personal expression of one man is sharedwith his bandmates, then through the power of musical inspiration and connection, isgiven to the world then returns to its creator, to begin the cycle anew