Moon Tooth

Moon Tooth began its journey at the end of 2012. Founding members Nick Lee and Ray Marte‘s previous band had dissolved and they quickly found a musical and philosophical kinship with singer John Carbone and bassist Vincent Romanelli. The band went straight to work writing and constantly gigging. They broke 100 shows in their first year with a relentless DIY ethos and quickly built a following with their intense and infamous live performances.

In July of 2013, they released the Freaks EP; four songs and 14 minutes of urgent, frenetic energy. The EP was mixed and mastered by drummer Ray Marté at his own Westfall Recording Company and proved the band as a force to be reckoned with as both musicians and songwriters. The EP also won over attention from the metal press. MetalSucks described the band at the time as “an undeniably strange, totally kick-ass beast who don’t really fit into any one genre. Anyone whining about a lack of originality in modern metal needs to check these cats out.”

The band went on to steadily tour and build their following throughout 2014. In 2015 they started to see the results of their hard work. They were asked that year to play both the Metal Injection/MetalSucks CMJ showcase as well as their SXSW showcase. They saw rotation of songs from their Freaks EP on Sirius XM’s Liquid Metal with no label or management behind them. The band also found themselves sharing stages with bands as notable and diverse as Killswitch Engage, The Dillinger Escape Plan, GWAR, Mutoid Man, Weedeater, Veil of Maya, Cancer Bats, KEN Mode, He Is Legend, & King Parrot. In February of 2016, the band self-released its first full-length LP, Chromaparagon, to much critical acclaim. They saw premieres and features on notable sites such as Guitar World, Revolver, Premier Guitar, Decibel Magazine, Modern Drummer, Gear Gods, Substream Magazine, Heavy Blog Is Heavy, Metal Injection, Metal Sucks, and more! The track “Igneous” was featured on Apple Music’s A+ List for metal and was also played regularly on Sirius XM’s Liquid Metal.

Chromaparagon was also recorded, mixed, and mastered by drummer Ray Marte at Westfall Recording Company.

Between the release of Chromaparagon in February 2016 and its first anniversary in February 2017, Moon Tooth had done over 130 shows with some highly notable acts, making for over 400 shows total in their career thus far.

Moon Tooth supported Intronaut & Entheos on a full US tour in July & August 2016. They supported Toothgrinder & Auras on a US tour in October 2016. They were direct support to Thank You Scientist on a tour of the US & Canada in December 2016. They co-headlined a tour with Astronoid in February 2017 in the US & Canada and supported Fit For An Autopsy & Tombs on another full US run in June & July of 2017. They closed out the year with a full-US headlining tour of their own in November 2017.

The band was invited to record their own Audiotree Live Session in October of 2016 and they released a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Manic Depression” in January of 2017.

The attention from the album helped the band land endorsements with Vigier Guitars, Sabian Cymbals, and Ernie Ball Strings. Drummer Ray Marte was also featured on Vic Firth’s YouTube channel. Guitarist Nick Lee regularly performs at the Vigier Guitars booth during Winter NAMM.

While touring with Fit For An Autopsy, Moon Tooth gained the attention of renowned record producer Machine (Lamb of God, Clutch, King Crimson, Everytime I Die…). The producer was so intrigued by the potential in the band’s blend of heavy, progressive riffs and melodic, soulful vocals that he reached out to the band directly. He and the band, who had all grown up as fans of Machine’s work, immediately started making plans to work together. Machine enlisted the help of Lamb of God’s Mark Morton for pre-production to truly make it a unique and explorative experience for everyone involved. The duo of producers brought a new level of focus to the process. Machine & Mark guided the material just enough to bring out the best of the band without taking anything away from the sound they had cultivated over years of writing, recording, and touring together.

The band spent the last week of 2017 at Mark’s home in Richmond, VA sculpting the raw material that would become their second full-length LP, Crux. The word “Crux” is defined as the “decisive or most difficult point of an issue.” The album Crux tells the story of the band at this crucial point where the past must die so new life can begin.

Crux was released March 29, 2019 to rave reviews and not only saw the band quickly land tours with the likes of Mark Morton, Animals As Leaders, & The Contortionist, plus 100,000+ streams in the first week, but also their first Billboard charts: #13 Heatseekers, #23 Hard Music, #42 Indie Label, #62 Digital Albums, and more!

With a relentless work ethic, new music in the works, and an insatiable appetite for the stage Moon Tooth shows no sign of slowing down!