The Raw Dents

Singer Todd Rittmann would love to be Michael Gira of Swans. Along the way, he sounds like Scott Walker on the avant-creepy and percussion-heavy “L. Rider” and like a homeless man trying to find his way out of the gutter on the horn-noir “Why I Only Take Baths.” This is horror music, the musical equivalent to a horror film. It is dark and relentless with drummers Theo Katsaounis and Matt Espy often dominating the mix as if to pummel Rittmann into submission. The music is clearly not meant for everyone. But for anyone with a taste for Swans, the Birthday Party, Liars or the 1970s-early ‘80s New York No Wave scene, the dissonant squawks of “Two Nonfictional Lawyers” is the sound of the Delta blues being thrown down a dumbwaiter. The maniacal laughter midway through the track further serves the brilliance here. “Stop Motion” continues with an unsettling rhythm that further challenges the listener to keep pace. “The Blue Flame” is a beautifully disturbed closer, Black Sabbath riffs and Pink Floyd’s dogs barking as the end is near.