GNAW THEIR TONGUES (An Epiphanic Vomiting Of Blood) CD
Maybe this is one of the most unsettling album I've heard in 2008. I could imagine that Lovecraft or De Sade would love it, if they were still among us. The Dutch band GNAW THEIR TONGUES create an intense aural maelstrom, where they've integrated a multitude of musical influences. While the male vocals would fit to any black metal or harsh noise band, the music is a wild mélange which is hard to describe. It's noisy, progressive, sometimes heavy, but mostly very bombastic as if it would be a complete orchestra. Sometimes operatic female vocals add a dramatic feel to this burdensome sonic assault, but they don't bring any light into the pitch-black world of GNAW THEIR TONGUES. Violins and trumpets intensify the feeling of listening to a morbid orchestra, and it's impressive to hear how they place one sonic layer on the next, before they let collapse their monuments of pure sonic power. Needless to say, that the songs deal with the darker side of human existance, and so it's no surprise that one of the band's interest is for example in BDSM. This album sounds as if it was a soundtrack for a movie, which was never made, but the music is so commanding that there would be not much space for a flick. GNAW THEIR TONGUES give their best to stimulate your imagination, and mostly they achieve success as long as you have a preference for experimental, apocalyptically and surrealistic music. 'An Epiphanic Vomiting Of Blood' was released as limited vinyl edition at the beginning of 2008 by Burning World, but Crucial Blast CD re-release features all-new, exclusive artwork that is completely different, and also features an additional track not available on the LP. This is very good stuff and it would be interesting to watch this band live.
(KK)