If you’ve ever wondered what it might sound like if revenge could be weaponised through dual basslines and drenched in neon yellow, ‘Threats’ is your answer. Chicago’s shadow-soaked duo Bellhead are back with a vengeance, and they’ve traded their grayscale aesthetic for something louder, meaner, and utterly unignorable.
Opening with the title-track, ‘Threats’ grabs you by the collar and sneers in your face. Ivan Russia’s thunderous low end and Karen Righeimer-Schock’s venom-laced delivery churn through themes like obsession, decay, and just a touch of dancefloor destruction. “If I can’t break your heart/ Then no-one will”, they snarl. It’s unmistakably Bellhead, but this time there’s a sharper blade behind the drama.
The EP walks the line between menace and melody. ‘Heart Shaped Hole’ oozes with slow-burn anguish, while ‘Shutters + Stutters’ lunges with glitchy aggression and twitchy grooves. ‘No Dead Horses’ rides a gallows-bound rhythm that’s equal parts punk attitude and industrial sneer, and ‘Double Jeopardy’ is pure noir panic; sweaty, dizzy, and dangerous.
What’s most striking about ‘Threats’ is how much fun it is. Yes, it’s heavy. Yes, it’s full of lyrical knife-twists. But it also slinks and stomps in unexpected ways. That’s especially true on the remix side. ‘Bad Taste’, featuring additional vocals from Stabbing Westward’s Chris Hall, morphs into an unexpected synth-drenched rager, made for dark clubs and late-night confrontations. Meanwhile, ‘Clubdrugs’ reimagine ‘Heart Shaped Hole’ as a ghostly house party you don’t remember leaving.
There’s something cathartic in Bellhead’s chaos. These songs are warnings, absolutions, dirty confessions. But beneath all the snarl and swagger, ‘Threats’ is the sound of two artists locked in on something bigger; something addictive and theatrical.
With a relentless tour schedule and growing cult following, Bellhead are no longer just circling the edge of the underground, they’re setting it ablaze. Consider this your formal notice: the warning has arrived, and it sounds phenomenal.
