Band:	Black Tongue
Album:	Nadir
Style:	Deathcore
Release date:	October 31, 2018
A review by:	X-Ray Rod

01. The Eternal Return To Ruin
02. The Cathedral
03. Second Death
04. Black Fawn Temple
05. Ultima Necat
06. Contrapasso
07. Abuse Ritual
08. Parting Soliloquy
09. A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh [Celtic Frost cover]
10. Crippled Before The Dwelling Place Of God

It's wonderful to see that "deathcore" stopped being an insult a while ago. Black Tongue is one of the bands to thank for that.

Their debut, The Unconquerable Dark, blew my mind and expectations three years ago. Their doomy, apocalyptic sound corroded my ears and presented a bridge on which followers of deathcore and many extreme metal worshipers could meet and greet each other. Very late in 2018 (more like early 2019?) I was made aware that a new album had been released and the result couldn't be more desirable for the group of somewhat more conservative metalheads. The truth is that Black Tongue has achieved an even greater balance of genres. While the more in-your-face approach to "slow doomy deathcore" isn't as obvious as it was in their debut, it is interesting to see them inject more influences of death metal and even black metal (see "The Cathedral" and "Contrapasso") into their sound.

Moments of dark, introspective ambiance flow nicely as passages in between the brutal riffs and vocals - the latter having improved, if you ask me, as the savage growls and scream seem to vary more in their delivery. Clean spoken words are hidden here and there along with harsher noisy sections that truly grab you by the throat. One of their truly dark moments happens to be their rendition of Celtic Frost's modern classic "A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh" (a favourite of yours truly). It's quite astonishing to see how well this song fits with Nadir and I can only hope that this song further inspires them to seek more experimentation within the dark and extreme corners of metal.

Nadir is a far more aggressive and less doomy album than Black Tongue's debut. It still carries the slow and atmospheric undertones implemented in the debut, but it shows a more mature yet still very hungry band. I'm sure both newcomers and those who enjoyed the debut will find plenty to love here as well.