Slithering from the cesspits of Hull, U.K. the members of Black Tongue plied their trade in grindcore acts before attempting to meld the dense atmospherics of Meshuggah and a touch of post metal atmospherics to their brutal death-core template.
It’s a formula which makes for some moments of impressive technicality but finds itself held back by a lack of invention. The songs are overly reliant on the inevitable beat down sections which in spite of their immense heaviness feel lumpen and lack inspiration.
A combination of both of Black Tongue’s first two releases (although with little to determine one song from the next you could be forgiven for being ignorant of that fact). The vocals are another bone of contention, switching between hardcore barks and deep pig growls they can be irritating as hell. Coupled with predictable songwriting this is a big obstacle to overcome just to enjoy the handful of Chaosphere riffs which have been liberally sprinkled throughout his release.
It is an incredibly heavy release in terms of tonality and certainly drummer Aaron is certainly no slouch, pounding his kit like his life depended on it. Yet the beat down sections are dragged out to the point of exhaustion when the old philosophy of “less is more” would have greatly enhanced their impact. The rigid adherence to lurching mid tempos over which promising melodies are quickly stifled only makes for a more frustrating experience.
Guest vocalist Martyr Defiled’s Matt Jones fails to add anything new with his contribution to the droning ‘Coma’ other than more macho chest beating with nothing to truly disturb, engage or provoke the listener. All of this is a great shame when you consider the menacing atmospherics that permeates ‘Voices’ a track that hints at what could be achieved if the band can escape the narrow confines of their suffocating sub-genre.
Brutal and claustrophobic will be adjectives thrown at this release, yet it is the restrictive nature of their muse which holds Black Tongue back from becoming just another black sheep in the death-core herd.
3/10
ROSS BAKER