Album Type: EP
Date Released: 13/2/2015
Label: Pelagic Records
‘The Tongueless’ EP CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). No Contrition
2). Orca
3). Litmus Beings
4). Megafauna
Review:
So here I return to it.
And what better way to return to writing – my first true love – than to be gifted such a peach of a hardcore EP. These fine Australian men have thrown out ‘The Tongueless’ EP in a similar way that soldiers throw grenades: far, wide, and with the intent to cause a great deal of mayhem. Sound good? You’re damn right it does.
Released on Pelagic Records (Robin Staps of The Ocean’s label), this EP not only sounds good but, if you get a physical copy of the double 7” coloured vinyls, it looks good too. Aesthetically pleasing, it demands the limelight of your turntable. Released way back in February of this year, it is still a frontrunner for 2015’s top 5 releases… and it’s only four songs long! Ladies and gentlemen, when their next full-length appears on the horizon like a warlord atop a midnight steed: join its ranks and get ready for the battle charge of your life.
Let’s talk songs. Personally speaking, I can hear a fair bit of The Ocean’s influence on these guys: tight riffage, Sam Dillon’s monolith tones, crazy drumbeats, this is The Ocean with an added shot of whiskey and rage. Just take a listen to “Orca”, the ferocity and grace of a killer whale on the hunt, with some insidious time changes and a great part where it’s just drums, bass and vocals… the priming of the jaws, which snap upon your body as Carl Whitbread slams down his distorted guitar fury. Its wild, its raw nature at its most unforgiving.
The other tracks are no less deserving of mention: as it’s an EP, every song has to find the mark and, on ‘The Tongueles’s, Lo! have certainly made that their mission statement. There’s a wonderful Converge feel to this release: when “No Contrition” kicks off proceedings, waves of “Precipice / All We Love We Leave Behind” wash over you, instilling this extra wellspring of enjoyment as you proceed to listen through this EP. “Litmus Beings” is just wild, a rampaging demon of vicious hooks that dig deep into your flesh. As for “Megafauna”… well, it is a minimal, spacious, field of emotion, raw and exposed like a nerve which, when touched, lets loose with a howl of drums and distortion.
Lo! are definitely a band to look out for. At once both heavy and sparse, dense and expansive, they are a hardcore paradox that make music that is a true experience. ‘The Tongueless’ is an EP well worth any hardcore fan’s time, and rewards each listen with fresh sounds you didn’t catch the previous time. Find your own tongue and tell your friend about this right now.
Words by: Chris Markwell
‘The Tongueless’ is available here
For more information:
Official: http://www.lookandbehold.net/
Follow: http://twitter.com/lookandbehold
