Wesley, in his guise as the Dread Pirate Roberts, before revealing himself to Buttercup famously told her that “Life is pain”, and while his theory is one that I used to subscribe to, these days I tend to believe that hidden among the daily onslaught of negativity that we each have to bear, are moments of incredible fragility and beauty. And it’s those moments, fashioned in the fires of hate and anger that make life worth living, that make it wonderful; and Tooth & Nail is one of those brief respites from the chaos and confusion of the increasingly bizarre world that we live in. Fusing Fugazi and Catharsis with Tragedy and His Hero is Gone, Cope have created a sonic onslaught designed to protect and shelter you from, and armour you against, everything out there that would do you harm, while helping reinforce, through its brutal, angular, hypnotic and yet strangely enchanting riffs, rhythms and multi-vocal attack, faith in the idea that tomorrow can be better if we want it to be. Hold on to those moments and let Cope guide you through the cataclysm that separates them…  Tim Cundle