Wednesday, July 30, 2014

WORLD WAR V

Twitching Tongues- In Love There Is No Law LP
First Press, 2013
Black Vinyl /900

Before this band's tour of Australia was announced earlier this year, I had never bothered listening to Twitching Tongues. For whatever reason, I always had this idea in my head of what they sounded like. I think I based these ideas on the cover art of this album of theirs, "In Love There In No Law", and some of the bands they tend to tour with in the States. One night I was driving with a mate and he had this album playing but I didn't know it was them. I was more or less instantly attracted to the thick and heavy thug mosh that I was hearing. Generally I don't get into new bands doing this style, but I found myself enjoying this quite a bit. So obviously I found out who the band were and looked into them more.
This is their second long player from 2013, following a much rougher 12" from the year before. Recorded by some members of the band, it comes across as a reasonably polished production, without being overdone. Without getting too descriptive, at it's core, this is relatively ignorant, moshy hardcore, held together by a crooning vocalist, and a lot of excellent, tasteful hooks. That combination makes it a little hard to compare to anything else, but I'd say these guys are likely drawing strongest influences from 90's bands like Biohazard, Life Of Agony and Only Living Witness (from where they take their name I would assume). There's also a locked groove on the B side that spins outwards that contains a 'secret' cover of the excellent SMD by the legendary Carnivore. To be honest, that was the thing that really clenched it for me. I love Carnivore.
Nothing but good things to say about this album really, except for the one fact that the mastering used on this platter lacks MASSIVELY in the bottom end. I've only recently obtained this record, up until then I'd been jamming MP3's, and after a few months of that, noticing the difference in levels is completely unavoidable. Bit of a shame, and I can imagine that it may be a little detracting for those hearing the band for the first time via this format.

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