Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Oxtongue - Where The Light Is Mute (2013)

 
(artwork; Førtifem)

Oxtongue, a young 3-piece band from my hometown that has piqued my interest and full attention since guitarist and friend of mine sent me some sample tracks a while back, but the songs were rather hollowed out skeletons of what was to become a colossal bone-yard…


… Where The Light Is Mute is a chasmal and malodorous display of doom calcified in so much decay it almost crumbles beneath itself… But it fucking doesn't, because the inner foundation is hardened and burly. With a tempo that shares the same consistency as molasses, it trudges along unhurriedly like someone forced to dig their own grave, and their family's too. Each scoop of earth slowly swallowing away life, each passing chord giving way to anguished howls, each floor tom strike signaling the inevitably bleak end.

The lengthy tracks give room to become stale, yet neither of them do, exploring intriguing nuances such as the ethereal monk like chants in the songs Humanity: Born In The Way Of Eternal Grief, and Anguish: Abide With Suffering along with some chunky fucking hooks. The buildup in the intro track is something to behold actually, a sluggishly paced section that develops the tension adequately over the span of 5 minutes until a tidal-wave of fuzzy guitars and searching screams pierce through the droney veil. All while shitting all over your whimsy, chump.

These dudes are young man, like fucking young enough to be your children, or the children of your children, probably. This is of course hyperbole, but still young, floating around the ages of 19-21. Howbeit with the sound they conjure up you would think they were ancient bearded shamans reciting age-old funeral marches.

I'd be really interested to hear what you guys (the readers) think of this, if you download it (which you should), let's exercise the right to not be a self-righteous cunt and throw our opinions around. I already have, your turn. Don't pussyfoot, don't beat around the proverbial bushes, give these dudes some feedback.

Download WTLIM (Mediafire)
Bandcamp

9 comments:

  1. been looking for something like this, that first song crushes. is this on tape then?

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    Replies
    1. It appears they may be doing tapes soon. (revert to the comment below)

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  2. Orcus approves. I was quite impressed. I'm too tired/agitated/dumb to go into any great detail about why I dig it. It rocks cause I said so, fool (Mr. T was saying that, in my brain). On a more serious note, I'd buy this, and probably any future material from these blokes. Definitely a band worth keeping an eye on.

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    Replies
    1. Orcus my man, I thought you might be into this. Cheers

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    2. Holy cow, just realized how disturbing the artwork is.

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  3. Hello.Thanks for the kind words guys.
    send an email to wherethelightismute@gmail.com
    with your name and we can put you down for tapes.
    They should be made soon.
    Thank you.
    -J

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  4. "it trudges along unhurriedly like someone forced to dig their own grave, and their family's too."

    you have yuor way with words, heavy tunes!

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  5. This band fucking rules. Definitely picking this up on vinyl.

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    Replies
    1. Now's your chance my man! Holy Mountain Printing has limited test prints and they are fucking rad! There are only a couple left now: http://holymountainprinting.bigcartel.com/cart

      Dig in, stay slow.

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