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TWITCHING TONGUES: DISHARMONY

(METAL BLADE RECORDS; 2015)

TwitchingTongues-Disharmony

Twitching Tongues have been thoroughly polarizing listeners since their formation in 2009. You’ll be hard pressed to find a fan of heavy music that doesn’t have an opinion – positive or negative, – about this Los Angeles based quintet’s brand of groove infused hardcore brutality. Not only is this tradition of musical ambiguity continued on DISHARMONY, the outfit’s first for Metal Blade, the boys in Twitching Tongues methodically douse that fire in gasoline.

Twitching Tongues (Taylor Young, Colin Young) (publicity photo)
Twitching Tongues (Taylor Young, Colin Young) (publicity photo)

The record kicks off with a creepy haunted house-like intro, just prior to assaulting the listener with the group’s signature sound of rhythmic chaos. The Tongues have meticulously refined their style, which is easily apparent throughout the duration of DISHARMONY. Tracks such as “Disharmony,” “Asylum Avenue” and “Insatiable Sin” don’t stray from the band’s signature style, but are, nonetheless, offered in a much more stylish and polished form. Vocally, one can’t deny the influence of late 1980’s east coast hardcore heavyweights such as Only Living Witness and Life of Agony. The lyrics, while rigorously dark, can at times come off as a bit kitschy and over the top. On the musical side of things, the riffs aren’t dissimilar to late era Sepultura, albeit a bit more punchy with the thrash element absent, while the drums are reminiscent of the urgency you’ll find on the first Slipknot record, courtesy of Joey Jordison.

Twitching Tongues (Taylor Young, Colin Young) (publicity photo)
Twitching Tongues (Taylor Young, Colin Young) (publicity photo)

If you’re tired of the same old tough guy hardcore or Hot Topic groove metal drivel, DISHARMONY might be the breath of fresh air you’ve been looking for. The eclectic blend of crushing riffs, unorthodox vocals and dark imagery is a welcome contribution to a heavy music scene that is growing ever more exhausting in it’s contrived tendencies.