Holy. Shit.
In lieu of my Pitchfork Festival experience (I'll do that next time), I felt the need to do a quick review of BLACK TONGUE!!! Enjoy.
The instant I heard this song was released, I found a it on YouTube as quick as I could and listened to it. And then I listened to it again. And again. Do you get that I like Mastodon yet? This track starts off with a brutal riff before quickly swings into a tight groove. Right off the bat, "Black Tongue" leaves the impression that this album will be much heavier than 2009's Crack the Skye. The verses, however, continue to bring in more melodic elements that the band experimented with last time. While the guitars and drums are reminiscent of Remission and Leviathan, the vocals are actually sung instead of shouted/screamed. Troy Sanders' vocals (at least I'm pretty sure it's Troy) have only gotten better. He is able to produce ominous melodies while still packing a punch. The second half of the song contains ultra-heavy riffs straight from Melvin's territories while adding vocals with psychedelic effects that evoke some of the sonics from Blood Mountain. Brent Hinds' guitar solo adds interweaving lines, similar to something The Black Dahlia Murder would do, to the song without showing off too much.
Overall, "Black Tongue" combines a little bit of everything the band has done but still pushes forward to create something fresh and, of course, brutal. It seems this band can do no wrong, because I every time I think they have to be out of ideas, the release something like this and blow all my expectations out of the water. September 27th can't come soon enough, cus I wanna hear the rest of The Hunter.
NOW!!!
