Gold Tooth Guru, the debut album from New Orleans crossover five-piece HourHouse, begins with a skit called THE SIT DOWN. What starts as a toast to some kind of illicit business ends in a blast of murderous gunfire. The rest of the album is, on the whole, no less violent – and makes you realise why every song title is stylised with capital letters. The eponymous first track essentially transforms those gun shots into music via blast beats and acerbic screaming that’s half-rap, half-metalcore, and fully ferocious. Such intensity can’t be easy to maintain, but Gold Tooth Guru generally manages to do just that, whether musically or lyrically. Even when the overintense riffs of BODYBAG MUSIK – which features a cameo from rapper Shaolin G – give way to a slightly l...