Beartooth Fans Go on an Intense Emotional Journey through “Pure Ecstasy”
Beartooth’s sixth studio album, Pure Ecstasy, takes listeners through a journey of self loathing, pain, passion, and rediscovery. Throughout the record, lead vocalist Caleb Shomo reflects on letting go of the past, learning to accept himself, and figuring out who he wants to be moving forward. I absolutely loved this album because it feels like Shomo takes us through that route with him from beginning to end.
The album opens with its title track and wastes no time bringing in the heavy guitar riffs Beartooth fans love. The song focuses on feeling alive again while putting the past behind you, which foreshadows the remainder of the album. The music video brings this concept to life, as we see the video opening up with Shomo alone in a deserted area digging a grave. By the end of the video, he is lying in the grave he dug. There is something incredibly fitting about that imagery when it’s paired with a song that focuses on leaving the old version of yourself behind. As a highlight, Shomo smoking a cigarette while digging the grave looks pretty badass.
That energy continues into “Eyes Closed,” another heavy hitter on the album. The song feels rooted in guilt and the fear that past mistakes will follow you forever. Shomo questions whether forgiveness is possible and admits how hard it is to keep everything together. The line, “dying to live with my eyes closed,” feels like choosing to move forward even when you do not have all the answers. There is still fear, but there is also willingness to keep going instead of constantly looking backwards.
“Beautiful Again” is one of the songs during which the album’s message begins to click into place. It questions how you are supposed to love yourself when you feel like you have spent so much time messing everything up. The song dives into how easy it is to turn that pain inward and blame yourself for everything that has gone wrong. Hating yourself is not going to fix a broken heart or make your life feel beautiful again. I think a lot of fans can relate to the struggle between self-hatred and wanting something better.
To me, “Free” is the most important song on the album. It was the first single to be released for the album and came out weeks before Shomo publicly came out as a gay man. “Free” centers around hiding yourself for so long that finally being honest feels freeing rather than having to keep pretending to be someone you are not. The music video starts off with Shomo looking in a cracked mirror at the version of himself he is hiding. As the video continues, those mirrors are no longer cracked as Shomo as he becomes more comfortable with the reflection staring back at him. Little details like the mirrors help push the message of the album forward. “Sorry” follows “Free,” which felt intentional to me: this track reflects on not being sorry for who you are, and that is a powerful message. There is never a reason to apologize for your core identity.
An underrated track on the album is “Lose You To Find Me.” The song focuses on what happens when holding onto something or someone means slowly losing yourself in the process. Sometimes, choosing yourself means walking away, and it can be a hard thing to do. I think the song adds to the meaning behind the album because it’s built around rediscovering who you are underneath all the pain you have carried.
The album closes with “I Made It,” which feels like the only way the album could have ended. After going on a journey talking about pain, self-hatred, and rediscovery, Shomo ended with the possibility of finally reaching a place where he can say “I Made It.”
