Black Tongue is a British 5 man Deathcore band from Hull, England. It was formed in 2013 by members of Infant Annihilator, Mister Sister Fister, and Acrania, and is the Trope Codifier of downtempo deathcore. Black Tongue released it's first EP Falsifier under the label We Are Triumphant, also creating and releasing the music video for the track "H.C.H.C." off of the same EP. Thanks to the music video, Black Tongue was able to popularize the EP through the Internet and social media. In 2014, the band released their second EP Born Hanged, which was self-produced. The EP was instantly signed by the label Century Media Records, which would later re-release the first two EPs as the full-length album Born Hanged/Falsifier [Redux]. One year later, they would self-release their second full-length album The Unconquerable Dark, featuring a guest spot of Eddie Hermida on the track "Vermintide". On October 31, 2018, they self-released their third album Nadir, which would see the band shift towards a blackened death metal sound while retaining elements of their previous style.
Current Members:
- Alex Teyen (vocals; 2013-present)
- Eddie Pickard (guitar; 2013-present)
- James Harrison (guitar; 2013-present)
- Lloyd Newton (bass; 2013-present)
- Aaron Kitchner (drums; 2013-present)
Discography (full lengths in italics):
- Falsifier (EP, 2013)
- Born Hanged (EP, 2014)
- Born Hanged - Falsifier (Redux) (album, 2014)
- The Unconquerable Dark (album, 2015)
- Nadir (album, 2018)
WIT! NESS! TROPES!
- Atomic F-Bomb: "Eclipse" has one at the end
- Black Metal: Nadir sports significant influences from this genre compared to previous albums, though not significant enough to mark the band as a blackened deathcore group.
- Concept Album: Nadir is about an unnamed individual's journey through purgatory, hell, and the abyss after their suicide while subjecting themselves to judgement for their sins.
- Darker and Edgier: Compared to other deathcore bands, their beatdown hardcore and doom metal influences make their material a lot slower and heavier than what you'd usually expect. They also are this for downtempo in general due to their darker, angrier sound.
- Deathcore: They're one of the most prominent bands in the downtempo scene alongside Traitors, Immoralist, and CABAL, and it remains a part of their sound despite dialing down on the downtempo aspect for the most part on Nadir
- Despair Event Horizon: "L'appel du Vide" and "Prince of Ash". Sound-wise, Nadir is essentially this trope in album form.
- Doom Metal: In addition to beatdown hardcore, they also have noticeable influences from doom and sludge metal from within their music.
- Gratuitous French: Again, "L'appel du Vide", mostly for the title though
- Gratuitous Latin: "I'm so Tired of Sighing. Please Lord, Let It Be Night" features a Latin invocation to Satan in the final portion of the song."I vocare te diaboli - Ustulo omnia - Nova nobis - Satana."
- Humans Are Bastards: "Ire Upon the Earth", "Plague Worship", "Young Gloom", "Vermintide", and "The Masquerade".
- Loudness War: Falsifier, Born Hanged, and The Unconquerable Dark have noticeably loud and brickwalled production compared to most other albums. Nadir averts this with a clearer, more dynamic mix that still conveys their music's signature crushing tone pretty well.
- Meaningful Name: "Nadir" refers to the worst, lowest point of a situation, which, considering the troubles that the band had with Century Media before they released the album, certainly fits the bleak and hopeless sound that the album delivers.
- Metal Scream: Alex Teyen predominantly uses Type 1s and 2s, with Type 3 used on occasion.
- New Sound Album:
- The Unconquerable Dark dials down the beatdown hardcore elements from their earlier material in exchange for a more doom metal-influenced sound along with traces of raw black metal.
- Nadir mostly eschews the "core" aspect of their sound in exchange for a more atmospheric sound influenced by blackened death metal, black-doom, and funeral doom while retaining their signature slow, heavy style.
- Protest Song: "H.C.H.C" is one about urban decay in the band's hometown of Hull.
- Rock Me, Asmodeus!: Again, "I'm so Tired of Sighing. Please Lord, Let It Be Night", mostly due to the invocation to Satan near the end of the song.
- Sanity Slippage Song: "Voices".
- Signature Style: Crushing and heavy songs with noticeable beatdown hardcore and doom metal influences, capped off with Alex's signature enraged shouts and bellows.
- Special Guest: The Unconquerable Dark features a guest spot from Eddie Hermida.
- The End of the World as We Know It: "A Pale Procession" and its sequel, "A Pale Procession II: Death March".
- Trope Codifier: For downtempo deathcore as a whole and its more beatdown-influenced branch along with Bound in Fear, Bodysnatcher, and CABAL.
