Tuesday 11 August 2015

Gnaw Their Tongues - ‘Abyss Of Longing Throats’ (Album Review)

By: Chris Bull

Album Type: Full-Length
Date Released: 07/08/2015
Label: Crucial Blast



‘Gnaw Their Tongues has opened up a portal into hell and is dragging you with him. Fear the worst. Expect to suffer. If you make it out alive, expect some severe emotional trauma.’


‘Abyss Of Longing Throats’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Like The Poison From The Cave Walls
2). Through Flesh
3). Abyss Of Longing Throats
4). From The Black Mouth Of Spite
5). The Holy Body
6). And They Will Be Cast Out Into Utter Darkness
7). Up Into The Heavens Down Into The Circles Of Hell

The Review:

Mories and his Industrial/Black Metal machine Gnaw Their Tongues has become somewhat of an institution in extreme music. As well as several albums, EPs, splits and compilations released through both widely renowned and über kvlt labels, as of today, he's been announced to play Temples 2016, he's played fucking Roadburn and after nearly 10 years can pretty much do what he wants. Thankfully, what he wants to do is make grimy, disturbing, unrelenting anti music. 'Abyss Of Longing Throats' is straight from the filthy mop bucket left in a dingy basement is a suburb of Hades.

When 'Lick The Poison From The Cave Walls' strained feedback and dissonant drums started, everything went dark, my worldview became disjointed. Horror. Disgust. Anguish. 'Through Flesh' fared much the same, Mories' disturbed, distant vocals, as always, in excellent form and the chaos contained within it's confines felt like a raging beast trying to smash through it's concrete walls, stopping for moments to catch it's breath and psych itself up. The title track was more straight forward industrial black metal in it's make up, like the joining line between Anaal Nathrakh and Abruptum, the blasting is relentless, the squeals and scrapes permeate the soundscape as spoken word samples provide a brief moment of suspense before the punishment continues. 'From the Black Mouth Of Spite' is a knife frenzy of a song that's as terrifying and torturous as  you can get. Random harsh swooshes and crunches of sound swarm around like a pack of hungry wolves as you bleed in the snow.

'The Holy Body' starts rather startlingly, like the scene in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre where Leatherface emerges from behind the sliding doors to deliver a fatal crushing blow to the skull, except the blow didn't kill you, only awaken your senses to allow you to feel the full force of the dismemberment you are subject to. 'And They Will be Cast Out Into Utter Darkness' is very discordant and disorienting for the opening bars before something that resembles a tune (a very gnarly tune) rears it's pale, screaming head, it's spitting blood at you in sheer panic. 'Up Into the Heavens, Down Into The Circles Of Hell' is a death knell signalling the finality of existence. Drawn out for an extended period before frantically gasping for oxygen. Strained strings and ghostly howls sit atop the carnage of distorted screams and blasts beats. Total darkness. The fear of isolation. Death has spared you but you wish he hadn't. 

Gnaw Their Tongues has opened up a portal into hell and is dragging you with him. Fear the worst. Expect to suffer. If you make it out alive, expect some severe emotional trauma.


‘Abyss Of Longing Throats’ is available here