Tooth and Nail

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  Ryan's Top 10 Albums of 2025

  Ryan Anderson

  Thematic/lyrical content: grit, determination, doing the difficult thing

  Tooth and Nail was my #1 for most of the year and I still feel a bit bad about bumping it down. Dormant Ordeal, a favorite of mine, have crafted their best album to date. There was a concern with the band losing their sole founding member since their previous opus The Grand Scheme of Things, but the now two piece soldiered on to create something truly special.

  My favorite thing about the album is the dramatic weight each songs brings musically and lyrically. This is exemplified by songs like "Against the Dying of the Light" (inspired by poet Dylan Thomas) and the the shiver inducing screams of the lyric "Rage". Or by the sudden silence and whispered lyrics before exploding into the final chorus on "Solvent". Those are just some of many examples as throughout the album's runtime, Dormant Ordeal does not let up.

  Tooth and Nail is my definitive favorite drum performance of the year. The session drummer absolutely pulverizes the kit here delivering a performance akin to a massage gun to the brain in the best possible way. The use of toms and the double kick with a meatier mix and master to bring out some more low end adds a vibrant warmth to the sound. All that wrapped up with solemn, dissonant guitars and vicious screams creates an incredibly immersive and grandiose experience, particularly on a nice set of headphones.

  Tooth and Nail is epic, ferocious, dramatic and beautifully encapsulates the inner fire to fight against oneself and the world for a better tomorrow.