Gnaw Their Tongues, the sinister brainchild of Dutch madman Mories is back with a new release titled ”Eschatological Scatology”, just a few months after releasing two new splits with Corephallism and Demonologists, respectively. Those who have been following his works are well aware of his insatiable creative surge which drives him to conceive new releases almost every year under several monikers (De Magia Veterum, Aderlating, Cloak of Altering etc). Although, this latest release is not a new creation but an older recording which was orchestrated during 2008-2009 but he didn’t release it at time because he had doubted the musical direction which it had to offer. He had also recorded the sepulchral ”All the Dreaded Magnificence of Perversity” during the same time which raised his creative abilities to escalating heights of profanity. However, these two recordings are different in nature, even though they were recorded during the same period. Eschatological Scatology is more comparable to De Magia Veterum, the dissonant avant-garde black metal project of Mories, although it still carries the rotten, drone infested and cinematic vibe of GTT.
It is never easy to decipher the core essence of GTT’s audio horror, specifically due to its profundity and corporeal demeanor. Think about the first time you encountered a painting by Beksinski and the horrific aura which it must have channeled onto your puny brain. Now, it would have either repulsed you or caused severe attraction, which would have been a cause of further inquiry and rumination. If we think about it clearly, extreme music also radiates a similar mystique. After all, it is a sonic medium which is used to paint grotesque pictures and abstract visions of its creators. While listening to GTT, one is bound to think about the parallels which I drew in my statements above. Much like a deranged mass murderer, Mories unleashes his inner demons through his sonic manifestations, which leave a profound imprint on one’s mind. These emanations are bizarre in their conception and not meant for an unsuspecting, average metalhead who is seeking the most headbangable and mosh worthy riffs. However, these sounds are sure to impress the beings that are lurking for notorious, boundless and harsh audio filth.
Now as I stated above, this release has more in common with De Magia Veterum as far as the musical structure is concerned, since he has incorporated more dissonant black metal riffs which are piled under a haze of cacophonous distortion. The trademark haunting ambiance is still present which makes the sound densely claustrophobic. Now picture yourself being trapped inside an abattoir, with the stench of blood and meat nauseating you while a butcher sharpens his knife and begins to carve each fragment of your flesh with ecstasy. Mories derives such a sadistic pleasure with the torture which he forges on your brain and ears through his caustic sounds. The experimentation with industrial and drone minimalism is intact and it actually enhances the foreboding atmosphere of the album. ”The Messianic Downfall” is occupied with groovy, industrial beats, aptly juxtaposed with mechanical blasts. While programmed drums don’t serve justice to many bands, GTT can’t be defined without them. They are cleverly buried amicably in the mix and allow the murkiness of the distorted fuzz and cinematic ambiance to take control. ”Master I am Done” serves as a good example of my above stated dissemination.
”A Sinister Lurking Grave” opens with an ominous uproar and paves way for more dissonance which pervades through the entire song as it progresses. For a project which usually experiments with noisy, buzz saw drones and less guitars, this track is quite an unusual change. ”The Golden Altar Burns” also begins on a similar note and exhibits a well carved song structure which again gives a nod to De Magia Veterum.. The album’s grand finale is equally horrendous as it provides a summa of the conceptual structure which enters the sickening domain of scatology. A female voice talks about an angel who falls from the black void and is covered with feces. Apparently, he has not used any sample from obscure horror movies like his earlier releases but this voice sample still does the trick in describing the core of the album. Amid the bedlam of disharmonic noise, Mories has still been able to create cohesion by incorporating dense doom-laden passages. These are most predominantly present on ‘’The Atrocious Angel of Scatology’’ and also on ”The Golden Altar Burns”.
One might wonder about the philosophical stance of Mories and would even think about his macabre visions and ponder on the thought that is he simply expressing these ideas as a shock value, or perhaps a fascination with morbidity or is he really demented and foul? He has expressed his misanthropic and nihilistic affiliations in interviews and they do go hand in hand with the aural art which he conjures. The concepts behind all his album/song titles/artworks are utterly loathsome and hideous, which eventually gives him the infamy he deserves. Of course, this is a style of art which is branded as ‘disturbing’ or ‘bone-chilling’ and aimed at a selected few who would comprehend and admire these works. Even though this album is not equally morose as some of his previous works, specially ”All the Dread Magnificence” and ”An Epiphanic Vomiting of Blood”, it still manifests itself as a horror opus and paints gruesome pictures of eschatological scatology all over you. If you think that you could handle it, then give it a listen and enter the dreadful world of Gnaw Their Tongues.
Rating: 3.5/5
Written By: Ankit
Label: Net release
Tracklisting:
01 Eschatological Scatology
02 The Messianic Downfall
03 Deepwood Bodytrap
04 Lash Cultus
05 Master I Am Done
06 A Sinister Lurking Grave
07 The Golden Altar Burns
08 The Atrocious Angel Of Scatology
Solid review. Monstrous album.