Stream Guiltless’ (A Storm of Light, Intronaut) debut LP ‘Teeth To Sky’ & read a track-by-track breakdown

Guiltless is the new project of A Storm of Light leader, former Neurosis visual artist, and former Battle of Mice / Red Sparrowes member Josh Graham, whose lineup also fellow ex-A Storm of Light members Dan Hawkins on guitar and Billy Graves (also of Generation of Vipers) on drums, plus bassist Sacha Dunable of Intronaut. They debuted with the Thorns EP last year, and this week (3/7) they’ll release their first full-length album, Teeth To Sky, via Neurosis’ label Neurot Recordings (pre-order). The album was recorded remotely by the members of Guiltless (except the drums, which were recorded by Travis Kammeyer) and the album was then mixed by Converge’s Kurt Ballou and mastered by From Ashes Rise’s Brad Boatright. If you’re a fan of the ten-ton, towering sludge metal that’s usually found in the Neurosis orbit, I think you’ll find plenty to love about this Guiltless LP. An early stream premieres in this post, and the band also gave us a track-by-track breakdown of the full thing.

Guiltless make their live debut opening for the reunited Coalesce in San Francisco, Santa Ana, and Los Angeles this month, and Kowloon Walled City are on those shows too. After that, Guiltless play Toronto festival Prepare the Ground alongside Kylesa, Baroness (Red & Blue set), Khanate, Have A Nice Life, and more.

Teeth To Sky by Guiltless

GUILTLESS – TEETH TO SKY TRACK-BY-TRACK BREAKDOWN

“Into Dust Becoming”

Dan is channeling some Celtic Frost with the main riff and Josh brought in some Rikk Agnew (on the bridge), who is one of our favorite guitarists of all time – Christian Death – Only Theater of Pain, Adolescents etc. The lyrics are a forced self reminder to give some thought to the fact that you are alive (or are we?), and to try to make the absolute best of your life before your time is up.

“One Is Two”

Josh was going for some more of the menacing seasick guitar bends heard on Thorns, and chopping it up with some old school Meshuggah vibe so it’s like a bastardization of that mixed with some Kiss It Goodbye and Discharge raucousness.  The lyrics acknowledge the duality of all of as humans – we can be good but we are still part of this environmental bulldozer.

“In Starless Reign”

Dan channeling some more CF, Godflesh and some black metal influences as well. It was an interesting evolution from the initial ideas and Billy really stepped up the overall vibe (as he does in every song since the first time I saw him play with Generation of Vipers 15 years ago!). The lyrics are a bit more contemporary, talking about human environmental impact and the fact that we are both the destroyers of earth and we are also victims of climate change.

“Teeth To Sky”

Sacha brought in an awesome bass line and general vibe and the collaborative work here really resulted in one of our favorite songs on the album. Josh took some of the initial guitar ideas from Sacha and turned those harmonies into vocal part – one of the few melodic vocal moments on the record. Billy is just shredding in this one – he posted a video of the drum recordings and it’s a mind bender.  The lyrics here are a surreal self-offering to mother nature in the form of a monsoon. Josh and Dan grew up in Phoenix – the late summer monsoons are breathtaking, blinding and can be extremely hazardous. On a late 90’s trip to see the Melvins in Tucson Josh drove through a monsoon and went from 110 degree sunny day to a dust storm with about 20 ft of visibility, then pouring rain with less visibility, then pummeling hail and then a hot and sunny day again, all in about 20 minutes on the highway.

“Our Serpent In Circle”

Josh’s initial experimentation with minimalism and some love for Melvins’ Lysol, met with some Dan vs Godflesh riffage at the end. Billy supplied the pulse here that brings the song to life, along with Dan and Sacha working around the drastic emptiness. This song is about our eternal need for religion and how that need results in so many negative outcomes for people that live on the other side of someone else’s beliefs. Almost everyone needs their god to be the only true god, and fuck everyone else.

“Lone Blue Vale”

Sacha brought this beast into the mix with bass and two guitar parts. Josh and Dan worked with the arrangement through several rounds of experimentation, and Sacha redirected everything back to the heavy focal point. The lyrics here are about how small minded our species can be at times – that we are all on this tiny planet in the middle of a black void and we’re fighting about who is illegal and who can come to your land. It just seems fucking ridiculous. We’re all here on this ball, all of the good and bad and the petty wannabee orange dictators.

“Landscape of Thorns”

Dan’s initial parts were channeling Discharge if you played a 45 rpm record on 33, and kind of nudging up to some black metalness as well. Josh swung it a bit into some more Melvins territory, maybe even bordering on some stoned Helmet Meantime moments, (yeah yeah we know it doesn’t sound like Helmet). The lyrics are a bridge to the Thorns EP, as well as our thorn icon, which are both influenced by the concept of nuclear semiotics.  NS is a non-linguistic attempt (still in the planning phases) to warn future civilizations about radioactive swaths of land, and to avoid them at all costs. The warnings are planned to be gigantic and “menacing earthworks,” one approach being acres of land covered in massive concrete thorns.

“Illumine”

Josh getting spacey again in the initial approach – kind of a build up and thematic end to the album. The lyrics talk about having led a good life and accepting death, and accepting the idea of returning to nothing, and that we don’t need the tease of some afterlife in order to live a virtuous life. Swans is an influence here both early and contemporary, as they are one of the best bands on this blue vale.

Guiltless — 2025 Tour Dates
3/21/2025 Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, CA w/ Coalesce, Kowloon Walled City
3/22/2025 Constellation Room – Santa Ana, CA w/ Coalesce, Kowloon Walled City
3/23/2025 Paramount – Los Angeles, CA w/ Coalesce, Kowloon Walled City
6/01/2025 Prepare The Ground – Toronto, ON