Style: sludge metal, heavy metal, doom metal
Label: self-released
Year: 2013
Home: Hull, England
Members: n/a
I have a soft spot for sludgy doom metal that crawls like Leonard Cohen & has a dropped tuning that is so deep I swear the earth's orbit is wobbling with every note. You know, the type of heavy tuning which can be defined as the sound gravity would make if it had a voice. Or, where I'm glad this is a 22 minute EP as surely something must be happening to my brain while listening. Music this heavy is almost mystical. If you can read between the lines, then you see I'm essentially recommending Black Tongue's debut. Six doom-laden songs have the distortion cranked so high & the chords are just ringing out letting every note breathe that this feels like a musical tightrope. Or, to put it another way, I'm reminded when I saw the legendary Oregon rockers Dead Moon in concert. The trio played for 45 minutes without taking a break & appeared, if they weren't actually, so tanked up on some illegal substance - or there was so much they'd taken in the past that it was never going to leave their bodies - & their playing so focused on the moment that I expected to see any of them drop dead at any minute from a sensory overload. This is the memory coming back hearing Falsifier. Its a good memory & was a great show. I may have a soft spot for sludgy doom, but this band really stands out compared to other groups. This is not just speedy over-driven thrash, but really well planned & orchestrated songs that go through a variety of moods. I really like the drumming which stops & starts with different approaches, sometimes even just a few tom & cymbal hits. The drummer doesn't rely on just double bass playing as the beat, but the technique is wisely one of many approaches. It changes the whole dynamic as the drums are the secret backbone of every band's groove. By pulling back the rest of the band is allowed to breathe & do they ever in ways I can't describe. I can only say the ringing sounds of distortion are an additional member of the band. Everyone is given their chance to shine. There's even some eerie keyboards that create a great ambiance underneath the guitars in just that perfect under-stated way. The only thing I don't care for is the guttural vocals where
only the random word do I understand, but I know this style of vocal
sorta comes with the territory. Those who follow this blog know that I
almost always push back on this singing style, as I love melodies & lyrics. Yet, the songs here are so well composed & orchestrated that the vocals are more than just an additional sound that becomes distracting, which is often what I hear. The guitars & vocals work together instead of each trying to compete for space. Thus, I'm putting Black Tongue into the small group where I like this vocal style, alongside the Militants, Arch Enemy & Lacuna Coil. By the second listen I didn't even mind them so much. Though, for the record, the lyrics they
have posted on facebook for the album are worth reading as the singer rants
against a failing world & broken relationships in ways I wish I could hear on Falsifier. In opening track "H.C.H.C." he partially rants: "We let the anger flow/Straight through our veins/This is the City of Hate/No youth, the lost soul state/We are bred in fear/And prepared to fight tooth and fucking nail/Against our enemies of truth/It didn’t have to be anything close to this/How many lies can we be fed until we’re sick?/The taste of betrayal and deceit/I hate these city streets/Paved with fucking lies/Kids without direction and hollow eyes/This is the city of hate (of hatred)/We are the lost/A dead city of forgotten people". This man is angry, but he also makes some great points totally relevant to the world around us. I can't recommend this band enough!
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