Twitching Tongues: Disharmony

Edgar Allan Poe's "Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" introduced readers to a voice so dark and so scary that it could only be described as the result of uncanny vibrations emanating from a character's tongue. Without the helpful control of the muscles in the mouth, what sounds would the tongue produce all by itself? In Poe's terms, they would be nothing less than a nightmare. Tongues are, of course, a necessary part of human anatomy, but they are also a ready-made source of disgust. People can't just lick us indiscriminately, especially in public places. Remember, too, when Jabba the Hut's tongue wiggled and twitched in his dying moments? Ugh. Similarly, the tongue also serves as a readymade metaphor for human speech. Watch your tongue!

I suppose a band name like Twitching Tongues captures all the horrors tied to the tongue. I'm also guessing that a twitching tongue quickly conveys the image of death.

The cover art for this album depicts a woman, her face bloodied and her eyes rolled back to blankness, who is positioned within a larger image of a skull enshrouded by a hood. It's a cover worthy of a Dario Argento film. I especially like the illusion that the woman seems trapped within the face and the hood of the skull. The music on this album generally conveys the kinds of horrors suggested by this picture, including its sense of incompletion. Twitching Tongues plays in a style that is hard to classify. Listen to a track like "Insatiable Sin," for example. The band, comprised of brothers Colin and Taylor Young, blends multiple ideas together in ways that will certainly challenge those who think they know what to expect here. I don't always like Colin's vocals, but they bring an urgency and emotionalism to the music that wouldn't be there with traditional death metal growling. This band sounds best when things are heavy and intense, as in "Cannibal" or "Crucial-Fiction." The former also has a short but impressive lead guitar section.

The name of this album is Disharmony. It's the right name. This is strange and strong and eclectic stuff.

Track Listing:
1. Disharmony
2. Insincerely Yours
3. Asylum Avenue
4. Love Conquers None
5. Insatiable Sin
6. Cannibal
7. Sacrifice Me
8. Arrival
9. The End of Love
10. Cruci-Fiction

Added: March 26th 2016
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1536
Language: english

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