Categories: Album Reviews

Troll Teeth – ‘Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered’ Album Review

At first glance, Troll Teeth’s Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered sounds like an homage to Queens of the Stone Age with doomier undertones. And although the album’s catchy guitars and silky vocals sound a great deal like QOTSA frontman Josh Homme, Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered is something much deeper.

Starting by taking a critical assessment of the world today, the band scrutinizes everything from government manipulation to colonialism. But instead of diving deep into Punk Rock, the socially conscious band takes their Doom roots and injects a flurry of Stoner Rock and Sludge.

The end result is a beautiful melancholy. With its aching vocals, wailing guitars, and thick Stoner Rock tones, Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered is a stunning album for fans of Queens of the Stone Age and All Them Witches.

About Troll Teeth

Troll Teeth is a New Jersey band located in the Philadelphia region. Originally founded about a decade ago under the name “Sluagh,” the current band members are:

Moe (J.W. Eccles) – Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Pretty Boy (Peter Trafalski) – Guitar
Thuds Mackenzie (Kyle Applebaum) – Drums

Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered was mixed by Richard Bukowski and Neil Cote at Groundwork Sound and mastered by Mike Cervantes at The Foxboro. Lyrically, the album was heavily inspired by Achille Mbembe’s Necropolitics and the modern world’s acceptance of inequality, militarization, and terror.

Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered Album Review

Label: Electric Talon Records
Release Date: March 11, 2022
Tracks: 8
Length: 54:45

Track 1: Hand Me Down

Troll Teeth has always played heavy, occasionally melding their Rock and Psychedelic influences with Stoner Metal sounds. But the first few riffs of “Hand Me Down” show Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered has placed the band on a new path. Slower, sludgier, and thicker, “Hand Me Down” is a smooth headbanger with silky vocals and glistening guitar solos.

Track 2: Elephant in the Room

The longest track on the album with a runtime of 9:00, “Elephant in the Room” is also the catchiest, thanks to those shimmering guitars and carefully crafted hooks. While the vocals still sound plenty like Josh Homme, they occasionally punch into the air like All Them Witches lead singer Michael Parks Jr.

Track 3: Gallows On the Playground

A taut track exploring the US government’s manipulation of its citizens, “Gallows On the Playground” marches forward under the ferocious power of a trembling bassline—one that’s occasionally followed up by terrifying layered vocals and soaring guitars. While it’s sandwiched between two songs running nearly nine minutes in length, “Gallows On the Playground” could have been lengthened to the same duration and remained just as strong.

Track 4: Expect Nothing, Receive Nothing

After its acoustic opening, “Expect Nothing, Receive Nothing” drifts into a slightly Psychedelic soundscape, one reminiscent of Dying Surfer Meets His Maker-era All Them Witches—temporarily, at least. Eventually, “Expect Nothing, Receive Nothing” expands into a space completely unexpected thus far for Troll Teeth, and the band does an excellent job pushing itself into new territory.

Track 5: Move

A simpler song featuring Moe on the acoustic guitar and vocal duties, “Move” was written in December of 2020 while thinking of the people being thrown into the streets during the holidays. Although “Move” plays the same few chords over and over, Moe’s heartbreaking voice provides an emotional wallop.

Track 6: Out of the World

With lyrics reminiscent of The Wall, track six of Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered is about overcoming oppression. A lo-fi track featuring a persistent guitar lick and haunting backup vocals, “Out of the World” is a haunting journey spanning more than seven minutes and a powerful, emotional build.

Track 7: Notes From the Post Colonial

“Notes From the Post Colonial” does what so much of Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered does so well: It relies on an idiosyncratic guitar approach for emotional impact. Here, the guitars have a strange, almost anthemic sound—no doubt a reflection of the song’s call for the reverse of colonization around the world. Featuring walls of fuzzy, squealing guitars, “Notes From the Post Colonial” nearly dips into Shoegaze a few times.

Track 8: Your Hands Are Red

With a sound that would have been perfect for Rated R or Songs for the Deaf, “Your Hands Are Red” relies on a soft yet tense opening and emotional lyrics before slipping seamlessly into a wall of heavy Stoner Rock. And be sure to stick around for the final wave of guitars!

Final Thoughts on Troll Teeth’s Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered

Final Score: 8.5/10

Top Tracks: “Elephant In The Room” and “Expect Nothing, Receive Nothing”

Pros: Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered captures the social issues of the day in a timeless manner, carving Troll Teeth’s sound into the Stoner Metal landscape by occasionally adding waves of Psychedelic Rock and heartbreaking vocals. This album is a truly powerful rocker that holds as many action-packed riffs as it does lessons for society—past, present, and future.

Cons: With an average track length of nearly seven minutes, some of these songs occasionally cross the line into self-indulgence (especially songs like “Notes From the Post Colonial,” which could have delivered a heavier punch with a minute or two shaved off).