Beartooth Announces Sixth Album Pure Ecstasy and EU/UK Headline Tour
Beartooth just dropped a bomb on us. The band officially announced their sixth studio album, Pure Ecstasy, set for an August 28 release on Fearless Records. Alongside the announcement, they've shared the music video for the title track, and honestly, it's the heaviest thing Caleb Shomo has put his name on in a while.
This is a big move for the band. Pure Ecstasy marks Beartooth's first release with Fearless Records after spending their entire career on Red Bull Records, where they put out five studio albums starting back in 2014. New label, new era.
The Title Track Hits Different
The "Pure Ecstasy" title track opens the album, and it sets the tone immediately. It's raw and disorienting, blurring the lines between extremes of emotion. Shomo built the song in the studio with Periphery's Misha Mansoor before expanding it further with producer Jordan Fish, known for his work with Bring Me the Horizon, Architects, and Poppy. The result is slower and heavier, closer to the sound of 2021's Below, but reaching for something more positive amid the heaviness.
Shomo described the creative process pretty perfectly: "'Pure Ecstasy' was birthed in a studio with Misha Mansoor, ridiculous loudspeakers, and the dumbest heaviest chugs we could chug." I'll be real, that's exactly the kind of energy I want from a Beartooth record.
The music video was directed by Zebulon Griffin and is out now.
A More Collaborative Beartooth
If you know Beartooth's history, you know Caleb Shomo has traditionally been the guy who does everything. The band started as his solo project out of an Ohio basement back in 2012 after his time fronting Attack Attack!, and for years he handled every instrument on the records himself. Pure Ecstasy changes that.
This is the first Beartooth album where Shomo didn't perform every instrument. Drummer Connor Denis played drums across the entire record during sessions at NRG Recording Studios. Bassist Oshie Bichar, guitarists Zach Huston and Will Deely all had expanded roles too. Early songwriting contributions came from Skyler Accord, who's worked with Issues, Twenty One Pilots, and Bilmuri. Shomo produced and engineered the album himself, with production contributions from Jordan Fish, Jake Rene, and Matt Sirtori.
That collaborative approach feels like a natural evolution. The live lineup has grown into a formidable unit, and letting them contribute to the studio work makes sense. It's going to make these songs hit even harder on stage.
Building on Massive Momentum
Pure Ecstasy follows 2023's The Surface, which was a career-defining record for the band. That album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums chart, hit No. 1 on Luminate Alternative Albums, and landed at No. 42 on the Billboard 200 with 17,000 first-week units. It produced two No. 1 rock radio hits in "Might Love Myself" and "I Was Alive". The band now has three No. 1 singles on the US Mainstream Rock Airplay chart total.
The band has surpassed 1.3 billion streams globally, holds gold and platinum certifications for tracks like "Hated" and "In Between", and earlier this year wrapped a run supporting Bad Omens on their arena tour. Forbes has called them a band "inching towards a tipping point of becoming the latest arena headliner." The trajectory here is clear.
The first single from the new album, "Free", dropped earlier this year and introduced this next chapter with towering hooks and brutal self-examination. Shomo called it "the most honest depiction of my soul I will most likely ever make." That's a hell of a statement from a guy who's built his entire career on vulnerability.
Full Tracklist
Here's the full 11-track listing for Pure Ecstasy:
01. Pure Ecstasy
02. Eyes Closed
03. Bullshit
04. Beautiful Again
05. Stadiums
06. Free
07. Sorry
08. Lose You to Find Me
09. You
10. For Me By Me
11. Made It
EU/UK Headline Tour This Fall
Beartooth isn't just dropping an album and calling it a day. They've announced a full EU/UK headline tour kicking off September 17 in Frankfurt, Germany. The run hits 15 cities across Europe and the UK before wrapping up October 6 in Glasgow. Here are the dates:
September 17 – Frankfurt, myTicket Jahrhunderthalle
September 18 – Oberhausen, Rudolf Weber Arena
September 19 – Hamburg, Sporthalle
September 21 – Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
September 22 – Tilburg, 013
September 24 – Prague, SaSaZu
September 25 – Berlin, Columbiahalle
September 26 – Munich, Zenith
September 27 – Vienna, Gasometer
September 29 – Milan, Fabrique
September 30 – Zurich, Halle 622
October 1 – Paris, Élysée Montmartre
October 3 – London, O2 Academy Brixton
October 5 – Leeds, O2 Academy Leeds
October 6 – Glasgow, Barrowland Ballroom
Support acts for the EU/UK run haven't been announced yet, but keep an eye on the band's socials for updates. Tickets are available through Beartooth's official website and Live Nation.
Don't Sleep on This
I'll be real. Beartooth has been on one of the most impressive upward trajectories in heavy music for a while now. Going from basement recordings to arena support runs to headlining some of the biggest rooms in Europe is not something that happens by accident. Everything about Pure Ecstasy feels like the next logical step, from the new label to the expanded creative process to the venues they're booking.
If you haven't seen them live yet, this fall tour would be the time. And if you're stateside, I'd bet a North American headline run isn't far behind. Pure Ecstasy drops August 28 via Fearless Records. Go pre-save it.
Cover photo courtesy of Ashley Osborn