GNAW THEIR TONGUES

"Issei Sagawa" is a 2 track, 9:31 minutes long release. It´s a concept release revolving around infamous Japanese murderer, cannibal, and later TV celebrity "Issei Sagawa". In 1981 while studying in France, Sagawa murdered, committed acts of necrophelia, and finally cannibalized the corpse of female Dutch co-student Renée Hartevelt. In a bizarre turn of events Sagawa was judged to be legally insane and unfit for imprisonment, and therefore was committed to indefinite confinement at an insane asylum. Sagawa´s wealthy father payed an expensive lawyer to run his case, and Sagawa ended up being deported to Japan, where he was released to freedom upon his arrival, and later became a minor TV celebrity by sharing his experiences...the cover artwork makes a bit more sense now, doesn´t it?

So that is the real life tragic story you have to have in mind while listening to the two pieces of noise/drone music on this EP. Some of Gnaw Their Tongues releases feature some black metal parts or at least some metal related sections, but not this EP which is strictly a noise/drone release. Both tracks feature long monotone and eerie droning effects, industrial noises, and voice samples. It´s actually quite an unpleasant listen, and especially the samples of someone making nasty smacking sounds in the end of "White Skin" makes my hair stand on end. It´s just incredibly disgusting...and nausea inducing.

The material is well produced and well performed too, and despite feeling a bit repetitive and one-dimensional, the songwriting is decent too and definitely gets the dread and horror atmosphere right. Mories is a genius at creating exactly this type of claustrophobic and bleak sound. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved...as always enter at your own risk, and don´t say I didn´t warn you...

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

Stylistically "Wir essen Seelen in der Nacht" belongs in the more noise/drone oriented part of the project's output, and the 4 tracks on the 18:41 minutes long EP don't feature many metal elements. The eerie haunting atmospheres and the samples of classical instruments are central elements in the sound along with the usual unpleasant noise effects. Some sections of the tracks feature tortured screaming by Mories, but this is mostly an instrumental and overall rather disturbing listen. Mories is incredibly skilled at building terrifying atmospheres designed to send chills down your spine. And he succeeds in doing that on this EP too, but overall the music lacks memorability and climaxes to hold on to, and to my ears Mories has taken the noise/drone aspect of his sound a bit too far on "Wir essen Seelen in der Nacht". It's of course an aquired taste, but personally I prefer the Gnaw Their Tongues releases which feature more metal elements. This simply has a tendency to become a bit tedious.

"Wir essen Seelen in der Nacht" is packed in a professional, detailed, and relatively raw sound production, which suits the music well. Compared to the sound productions on some of the previous releases by the project, the production here isn't nearly as raw sounding. Overall it's another intriguing release by Gnaw Their Tongues although Mories haven't chosen his best material to appear here, but a 3 star (60%) rating is still warranted.

I am no stranger to black metal. Nor am I the greatest aficinado. I feel I have a healthy fondness of the genre. They took a step backwards, in the birth of the genre, and created a stripped down yet complex movement. The sounds that emenated through their speakers proved utterly menacing, dark and visionary. Their progressive attitude, in the sense that they created something new out of old, is really an impressive achievement, regardless of what you think of the music. Black metal is these days a multifacetted genre, holding a myriad of subgenres. There is alot I find appealing but as with any genre there are alot I can't stand. It is a tough nut to crack, I'll give you that, but when you do there are nuggets to be found. Just a you will on a smorgasbord.

I started this review by explaining how I have clung to the idea of Mayhem as the scariest band on Earth and all time. Well, my point of view have hardly changed. Rather it has been modified. I have listened more to Mayhem than Gnaw their tongues, so it is a bit early for a total reassasment of that standpoint. I wil however proclaim this EP as the scariest thing I have ever Heard. Really. It is so utterly frightening that it is almost unbearable.Still it intrigues me.

Just like Mayhem this one man band manages to walk that thin line between chaos and order. If you listen very casually you will hear only noise but when more carefully examined you will find traces of order and structure. It's like taking a tour of Hell. Amidst the agony, sense of disorder, breakdown and dispair there has to be some organisation to pul it off. Someone has to be in charge of tickets and maintaining the Hop-on-hop-off bus.

There is no obvious track that I feel is the better one. "Droom van de Rattenvreter" is possibly the most ordinary among the four tracks, including something what could be called an ordinary black metal section. The rest feels like listening to thousands of years of human pain. I feel moved and touched, actually. By some strange coincidence I feel like I am getting in touch with all those people who has ever been mistreated in, say, the witch hunts. I do not know whether or not this album is about that (or what it is about at all) but that feeling haunts me.

"Haunts". That was quite an apt thing to write This is a very haunting experience. It is intriguing, bewildering, scary, saddening and disturbing album. How do one rate such recordings? Somewould say it's not even music but I beg to differ. This is not my usual cup of tea. I do not ever start my day with black metal, in general, and I will not start nor end my day with this album. Yet I must acknowledge the strange vision and skill by which it is made. I drew comparison to Mayhem and feel a certain connetion to Athur Browns "Strangelands" aswell. The latter being fare more organic, obviously, and "Wir essen Seelen in der Nacht" more of an Electric affair. This is not music to be taken lightly. It i seriously scary and disturbing.

All in all I feel that I must deliver my rating and by that my final judgement. While I find it hard to see it as an "Excellent addition to any prog rock music Collection", because is is certainly not for anyone to venture into, I feel that the effort and execution deserves four stars. Have I lost my mind? No, I don't think so. I have to go with my gut feeling and that tells me, four stars it is. No matter how intelligable, disturbing or hard to digest this is, it still is an impressive recording by someone with a vision and mission. If that's not prog I don't know what is.

The music on the album is eerie sounding noise/drone, and this time around it´s like Mories has prioritized the noise element. The album is very atmospheric, but in an unpleasant, cold and tortured way. The music of Gnaw Their Tongues have always been hard on the ears and not easily digested, but if you ask me the emphasis on the noise side of the project´s sound makes "Per Flagellum Sanguemque, Tenebras Veneramus" one of the harder releases in the project´s discography to appreciate. Most tracks on the 57:58 minutes long album exceed the 6 minutes mark and as rythmic foundation and hooks are sparse (which is not unusual for Gnaw Their Tongues, but here more than ever), it´s an album that requires attention and possibly many spins. Even then it´s still an extremely challenging listen. The sections with spoken samples and classical instrumentation stand out to me.

I´ll never question the musical genious of Mories, which is again obvious when listening to "Per Flagellum Sanguemque, Tenebras Veneramus", but I must confess that this particular album doesn´t do that much for me. It´s so hard to penetrate and grasp that it becomes tiresome work instead of listening pleasure to me. People more into noise will probably enjoy this more than I do though. Personally I hope Mories will put more black metal/drone elements into the music again on the next release, to increase the memorability factor. Despite my issues with the album it´s obviously a quality release and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

The music on L'Arrivée De La Terne Mort Triomphante is in Gnaw Their Tongues usual noise/ drone/ avant garde extreme metal style. While I´m not 100% sure ( there is no lyric sheet in the CD) it seems that there is a lyrical concept about death on the album. The word "Mort" is present in all five French language song titles. The music on the album is not easily digestible and is pretty sure to be an aquired taste. Layers upon layers of sampled noise and what sounds like orchestral samples, screaming and tortured distorted vocals, bleak distorted riffs somewhere in the back of the mix and the repetitive nature of the rather long tracks ( ranging from 7 to 11 minutes in length) will probably only appeal to few. The atmosphere is dense and at times almost claustrophobic and suffocating in it´s noisy intensity. I find it hard to sit through the entire album unless I´m in the mood for it, but when I´m in the mood Mories is able to create bleak tortured images in my mind no other artist can. While my enjoyment with his various projects varies, I think Mories is the true definition of a musical genious. A pretty twisted one too.

All five tracks on the album are enjoyable even though some of the most noisy and repetitive ones could have prospered from a hook or two IMO. My favorite here is without a doubt the absolutely epic opening title track L'Arrivée de la Terne Mort Triomphante. One of the best tracks yet from Mories hand. It´s grand, dark and beautiful beyond belief. This one is actually able to move me greatly.

As usual Mories has created a a dark, noisy and atmospheric production. In the case of Gnaw Their Tongues the production is almost like an extra active instrument that creates the unique sound.

I have listened to many of Mories projects in the last couple of years and compared to what I perceive as his best output I can´t say that L'Arrivée De La Terne Mort Triomphante is all the way up there. If the other four tracks had moved me the way the title track does, this might have been a 4.5 - 5 star album. All tracks are still high quality compositions though and they have a very unique sound to boot, so a 3.5 star rating is still warranted IMO.

The music on Horse Drawn Hearse is unmistakably the sound of Gnaw Their Tongues. It´s eerie experimental/ drone black metal, with unpleasant samples of screams and mad talking to accompany the dark music. The music is slow and heavy and almost cinematic at times. The vocals ( Tortured raspy screams) are low in the mix and work more as an extra instrument than regular vocals. The EP starts with the extremely heavy and repetitive The Behemoth Crawls Ashore. Repetitive in this case should not be interpreted as anything bad though. The repetitive nature of the music only enhance the eerie claustrophobic and unpleasant atmosphere in the song. The repetitive drone is overdone a bit in the first half of Horse Drawn Hearse, but the second half of that song is great material. Another Study in Bleakness and Despair is another great track. Quite chaotic to the ear, but after a few spins the details begin to unfold.

The production is filthy, noisy and raw yet detailed and greatly enjoyable.

Mories one-man army has yet again proven that he is without a doubt one of the most creative forces on the more experimental part of the extreme metal scene at the moment. All his releases hold a very high quality level and to top it off he makes unique music, that stands out from the rest of the pack. Horse Drawn Hearse deserves a 3.5 star rating. Maybe a 4 star rating is more deserved but I´m hesitant because of the occasinal monotone part, so for now it´s a 3.5 star rating.

The demo contains six tracks and the total playing time is 48 minutes. All songs exceed the six minute mark. The music is extremely dark with droning bass/ guitars, sampled/ programmed drums and layers upon layers of eerie samples and keyboard/ synth sounds. The music is somewhat rooted in black metal but has been given an experimental, industrial, droning and ambient twist. A song like "Nihilism; Tied Up and Burning" represents the black metal side of the music. It´s a noisy, intense black metal track and it kinda reminds me of a band like the noisy industial grindcore/ black metal act Anaal Nathrakh when they are at their most filthy. Most tracks are slow and droning though. The atmosphere is dark, eerie and unpleasant and with song titles like "Chinese Torture Worship" and "Horse Drawn Hearse" it´s obviously not the lighter sides of life that Mories writes about which is also obvious when reading the title of the demo. "Chinese Torture Worship" actually needs a special mention as it is positively one of the most unpleasant listening experiences I´ve had in a while. I listened to the song on my iPod while walking through the dark basement in the building where I live and it freaked me out to the point where I had to look over my shoulder several times to see if a monstrous creation was sneaking up on me. Eerie white ambient noise with tortured screaming vocals low in the mix. I ususally have a hard time appreciating this kind of ambient noise music but this song really is something special. "Horse Drawn Hearse" is a really fascinating track as well. Lots of atmosphere enhancing mad preacher samples in that one. The last track on the demo is "Seven Heads, Ten Horns" which was also featured on the debut full-length studio album "Spit at Me and Wreak Havoc on My Flesh (2006)". I´m assuming this demo version was recorded before 2006 even though it was released in 2007.

The production is noisy and at times murky, but the dark sound suits the music well. It´s one of the more lo-fi productions in Gnaw Their Tongues discography though.

"...Spasming and Howling, Bowels Loosening and Bladders Emptying, Vomiting Helplessly..." is a great release by Gnaw Their Tongues and considering that it´s free for download on the band´s Myspace it´s an even more attractive item IMO. Gnaw Their Tongues has made many fascinating high quality releases but if you would like to take a listen to how the music sounds and not even pay for it, this is a great opportunity to do that. The demo is not Mories best release but it´s still a great effort and a 3.5 star rating is well deserved. It seems like Mories can do no wrong.

The music on the album is dark, extreme, ambient, noisy, unpleasant, experimental but most importantly very intriguing. The music actually defies catagorization that´s how unique I think it is. I find it deeply fascinating. I´ll try and describe it like this: The basis in the music is droning and dark distorted bass/ guitars and what sounds like programmed/ sampled drums (they could be real though. I´m not sure), but on top of those add layers upon layers of samples, sounds (eerie sounding keyboards/ synths/ piano/ strings) and voices. And we´re talking really unpleasant samples of tortured screams, moaning, blood dripping, creepy heavy breathing, autopsy details, mad preachers and other unpleasantries. The vocals are raspy and tortured screams which mostly appear low in the mix. The perfect soundtrack to a torture scene or one of those rare horror movies that are actually scary. To be honest I have no idea how this music is made. I´m a musician myself but this goes beyond my knowledge in music. There are tons of little details going on at any given moment on the album and the music on "Spit at Me and Wreak Havoc on My Flesh" certainly wouldn´t work as background music. This is a demanding listen and it deserves to be dealt with accordingly. There´s a dark, filthy atmosphere on the album and I kind of feel like a naughty child listening to something mommy definitely wouldn´t approve of. A filthy and shameful feeling yet at the same time exciting and addictive. It´s like people passing by a traffic accident. They know it´s wrong to look but they can´t help themselves.

While the music is somewhat rooted in black metal, there´s very little on "Spit at Me and Wreak Havoc on My Flesh" that resembles traditional black metal. The track that resembles traditional old school black metal the most is "Healing Open Wounds With Salt" but "...Gnaw Their Tongues in Pain" and "Seven Heads and Ten Horns" also feature some faster paced sections that could be viewed as somewhat traditional. Most of the album is slow and droning though. With song titles like "Death, Suffering and Death", "Healing Open Wounds With Salt" and "...Gnaw Their Tongues in Pain" it´s easy to imagine the lyrical content on the album.

The production is raw, noisy and chaotic upon first listen but repeated listens have meant that the sound has opened up to me and I´ve begun to understand and enjoy the album even more. I think this sound is as close to perfection as you´ll get for the music on this album. It´s not often I enjoy productions as noisy and distorted as this one but under the right circumstances a raw production like this one can work wonders.

I know it´s big words but I don´t hesitate to call Mories a genius on the grounds of this album. He is probably in the mad and bizarre genius end of the spectrum but I´m sure he´ll take that as a compliment rather than an insult. I can´t wait another minute before I get my hands on another release in his extensive discography. Calling this a promising debut album would be an understatement of the big ones. I´d rather call it a mindblowing and extremely innovative release. The fact that the album is available for download on Gnaw Their Tongues myspace for a "Pay What You Want" download fee (the original pressing is out of print) just makes this release even more attractive. A 4.5 star rating is more than deserved and I might upgrade this one to a full 5 in time. This is what I call truly progressive and innovative music. I´ve been repulsed and I´ve been frightened while listening to this album and more than one time have I been forced to turn the music off because I just couldn´t handle it anymore. Yet I keep coming back because some dark perverted part of me seems to crave this. It´s taken me almost a year before I felt confident enough to write about this album. I hope I did it justice.