Review by Paul D Houston
I love discordant noise rock, and there's a part of me that's always hungering for new and unique noisey, loud, abrasive and discordant new music. The debut self-titled ep from the San Jose, California band, War Tongue hits that angsty sweet spot for me so hard. I love this ep. From the opening song, "Do Not Sleep On Us" with its anthem-esque declarations and abrasive guitars, to the last track, "Cults" with its pounding bass line and hypnotic beat, this ep is soooo good.
Technically, noise rock bands can sometimes be all over the place when it comes to production values. And because the music is just loud and noisey, a band can skimp on the niceties of a good mix or composition, but War Tongue, technically and in my opinion, do an amazing job on the mix and the overall compositions ofn these 6 songs. All the songs are super tight and seem well practiced. The vocals are both loud enough and buried enough to generate a grindy and troubled resonance, which I found very appealing. And the guitar work is in that perfect zone of being well recorded, but discordant enough to really fuck with your brain and ears, which is perfect for a good noise rock sound. The drums are also heavy and pounding and most importantly, the cymbals aren't lost in all the noise from the guitars, feedback and screaming vocals. So, yeah the mix on this ep is excellent!
While I do think the opening track is probably their best....
I do particularly enjoy the song, "You're the Parade"
But in reality, this is an ep I will be listening to a lot going forward and I give the band major props for producing such an amazing debut ep. So if you enjoy good discordant, angsty noise rock, check this ep out immediately!
Here is the link: https://wartongue.bandcamp.com/releases