Release Date: 15th February 2019
Label: The Sign Records
Genre: Punk, Hardcore, Metal
Reviewed By: Kyle Stough
Kicking off this album review, my initial thought is WOW, Snake Tongue’s LP could give legendary metal band, Slayer, a run for their money. Yep, I went there. Fight me. The speed, the intensity, the overall vibe of frustration are key ingredients inside this mixing bowl of hardcore meets thrash roots.
ST’s ‘Corrupted Beat’ is up first and this song comes right out of the gate swinging. This is one fired up riff and it’s not here to joke around. Fair warning, the entire album follows in those footsteps. There is a stigma attached to hardcore bands where vocal characteristics are a dime a dozen, however – one can immediately identify these dominating, harsh pipes. What a set of lungs! Roughly a minute into the song, there is this eye of the storm moment. There is a guitar whispering as the drums roll around the toms, bass adding backbone, and the listener can hear disaster just around the corner. A quick YouTube search of the band shows they’ve established a name for themselves. Snake Tongue has precise performance – wow, musicians that are playing their music live note for note? Believe it or not, this is a prestigious token amongst a generation of artists cheating behind a computer screen and bluffing their social platforms with visual playthroughs. The music industry desperately needs talented breeds who respect that organic tradition of – practice makes perfect. We need less Cardi B in our youth’s headphones and more Snake Tongue.
On to my personal favourite, ‘Dystopian Slumber’ is just as it sounds. The song title paints a perfect picture of what to expect. This is one of the most mesmerizing intros on the album. This includes a background of calm static and a distorted six string, slithering up and down the fretboard ever so elegantly. What appears to be a comforting first minute is a clever and deceptive setup. The drums transition this ‘Dystopian Slumber’ into an immediate heated warzone. The songwriting approach for this tune deserves a certificate of adequacy.
To my disbelief, the sinister LP manages to darken as this digital record continues to spin. Halfway through this full length, ‘Derailed’ wastes no time picking up speed like a jet taking off of an aircraft carrier. This is an anthem fueled by pure aggression. An ilk of music like this would cause mayhem amongst underground crowds, punk fans, and the most hard of hardcore fans. ‘Derailed’ is not for the faint of heart. The only negative thing I can say is, there is potential room for improvement in regards to the overall mix. However, this blame isn’t to be put on the band.
As we near the finish line of Snake Tongue’s masterpiece, ‘The Hammer And The Nail’ come into light. The drummer had quite the load to carry as these licks are sophisticated, professional, and nearly impossible. In respect to their live performance, each instrumental role demands perfection so I imagine, Snake Tongue could actually be a group of robots. One can only imagine how proud the band’s hometown, Linkoping is of all their hard work to establish their name. As the song marches forward, there is this demented chord progression reoccurring.The guitar work is everything that is hauntingly beautiful. I sense a battle of desperation closing in on the ending of the song. Fans of old school Bring Me The Horizon would call for a circle pit listening in as this anthem holds a lot of potential.
Rating: 7/10
Recommended Track: ‘Dystopian Slumber’
Social Links:
Facebook: facebook.com/snaketongueofficial/
Instagram: @snaketongueband
Bandcamp: snaketongue.bandcamp.com/
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/2VJONGKkBiiWMNAKfTD431?si=VGh-EiCJSda2CNbHfKc87w
Homepage: snaketongueofficial.com/
Twitter: @snaketongueband