A combination of their two previous EP’s, Black Tongue’s ‘Born Hanged / Falsifier’ offers up one of the heaviest releases of the year. A tangle of breakdowns, chugging guitars and pig squealing, ‘Born Hanged / Falsifier’ is an aural assault, with relentless pace and aggressive misanthropic lyrics. Impressive from the off, the album piles on back to back riffs and gruff, heavy vocals – it’s certainly remorseless.
Sadly heaviness does not necessarily quantify a good album, and the oppressive onslaught of breakdowns makes for tiresome listening, the endless dirge of sludgy beats making it hard to tell where one track ends and the next begins. The majority of the lyrics are growled in an unintelligible manner, but those that can be heard follow cheery themes such as “you pathetic piece of shit” and “how does it feel to be a victim of your own accusation?” – ‘Born Hanged / Falsifier’ is certainly rage filled.
While it may be brutal, this is not a fast-paced effort, with the majority of the tracks taking a slow approach; it’s the listener’s version of wading through treacle and tracks with a six minute running time are the norm. However when they try to take a different approach to music Black Tongue also fall flat. Their spoken-word interlude sounds like a 90’s video game boss monologue and their final track “Wasted” is a hideous blend of dubstep and breakdowns, something which is outright unpleasant to listen to.
‘Born Hanged / Falsifier; is music for people who like to test their limits of endurance, masochists and people who want to piss off their neighbours. It’s safe to say it won’t be garnering any repeat listens.
JAY SULLIVAN