New Release: Gnaw Their Tongues - All The Dread Magnificence Of Perversity

Originally posted 9/15/09

I saw this album on a new release list; having never heard of the band, I thought I'd give it a shot. Turned out to be noise metal. That would have discouraged me from even trying it if I'd known beforehand. But it wasn't all bad...




Gnaw Their Tongues is apparently a one-man, avant-garde noise-metal project that has put out quite a number of albums since 2006. I'm not big on noise bands; I don't feel that music is an appropriate medium for abstract art. However, personal opinions aside, I have to admit that I can see where All The Dread Magnificence Of Perversity could be considered art. It's not something you can just pop in and listen to on your daily drive (which is what I did), but there is a distinct atmosphere formed by this record. And it ain't pretty, folks; this one is SCARY. If you think Slayer or Marilyn Manson is the music of the devil, then Gnaw Their Tongues is the last thing on Earth you should ever listen to. Playing this album real loud in a dark room would make Clive Barker shit himself.

As we know, however, atmosphere isn't everything. This Dutch guy has some incredible talent for evoking a terrifying mood, but like anything noise/avant-garde, it's just really hard to listen to. The only thing that got me through the album is the fact that there is an uncharacteristic amount of steady rhythm (which isn't saying too much) through most of the tracks, which gives the album sort of a musical skeleton. The instrumentation just produces a sound like you might expect from a philharmonic orchestra in a 9.0 earthquake. Of course, for those who are into noise metal, this is perfect, and this album could be a great masterpiece by those standards.

Being the sucker for packaging that I am, I was impressed by the available releases. The CD version comes packaged with a T-shirt, sticker, and other doodads. [EDIT: I was mistaken; this appears to have only been the pre-order package.] There is also a deluxe LP version, which includes similar extras (plus one more shirt) and is pressed on two gold vinyls, all packaged in a silkscreened wooden box for a mere 50 Euros. In addition, there are both normal LP and downloadable releases for those of us with normal-depth pockets. To make it even more interesting, the LP versions contain three additional tracks (which were present in the download that I *ahem* found).

As much as I really don't care for the style, I can't say enough good things about the execution. Gnaw Their Tongues has done an amazing job of accomplishing what was intended. I'd normally give noise metal half a star on the basis that most of it is garbage. All The Dread Magnificence Of Perversity earns an extra half-star for the packaging, a full one for the execution, and another half for creating a noise album I could stand to listen for more than 2 minutes.