“The Path Narrows” is the fourth full-length album from the Texas-based progressive/technical death metal band, BARING TEETH. The album was released on October 20, 2023, on I, Voidhanger Records. BARING TEETH plays a high-brow style of music that merges the sounds of technical death metal and mathcore with dissonant guitars, a dense, complex low-end, and sludge-style vocals. The first track, “The Gate,” is an intro track that begins with ominous clean guitar notes and screamed vocals. The track devolves into a cacophony of chaos that runs straight into the next track, “Obsolescence.” This second track shows Addison’s and Roe’s prowess with the bass guitar and drums respectively. There’s a lot to digest in this track and the music can be a bit disorienting. This track as well as this album are unpredictable. My only minor complaint is that there is very little vocal range across the entire album.

“Rote Mimesis” could be a long-lost DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN song. The instruments are also reminiscent of DYSRHYTHMIA. I love the speed of the guitars throughout the majority of this one as well. There are well-hidden instances of harmony nestled in the dual guitar assault. This fourth track is one of the best on the album. Everything on “The Path Narrows” sounds great until the final two tracks, “Cadaver Synod” and “Terminus.” The former has an excellent first half, save for one part where the vocal cadence never changes to complement the instrumentation. After the halfway point, “Cadaver Synod” slows to a crawl. The music gets as slow as funeral doom but without the crushing atmosphere. There’s an interesting bit of cymbal flourishing just near the end when the guitar tones ring slowly like the tolling of a bell.

 Those bell-like tones feed right into “Terminus,” a track that builds seemingly forever without ever developing into a cohesive song. There’s a five-minute instrumental vamp before any vocals. That long segment is not without its moments. The three minutes after the intro would make for an excellent song by itself. Instead, the music slows back down into quasi-funeral doom territory. The excruciating slowdown continues for the track’s remaining three minutes. That’s not to say that this album isn’t enjoyable. I’ve always thought that BARING TEETH is at its best when the music is frantic and overly dynamic. The majority of “The Path Narrows” exhibits those qualities. The album is too front-loaded for me to play it through in one sitting often. There are five excellent playlist tracks on this eight-track album.