ALBUM REVIEW: Glacier Tongue – Rongeur
Glacier Tongue is the sophomore album from Norwegian sludge trio RONGEUR, and follows their 2017 debut An Asphyxiating Embrace, on which the band made clear their intention to abrasively confront humanity on its many shortcomings. Here, they compile eight new slabs of raw, honest and raucous noise, billed as being more political than prior efforts but still deeply rooted in “the familiar bleak Kafkaesque misanthropic terrain”. But were you ever really listening to heavy sludge metal for a joyride?
It would appear that RONGEUR have used the past four years to really take stock of everything they hate happening in the world, because this album wastes no time in getting down to brass tacks. That said, the opening of Nixonian Echoes is less brass tacks, and more railroad spikes doused in acid. Launching head-first into a sonic assault, this already feels more urgent than anything they’ve produced before. The harsh, dissonant opening unfurls into a nightmare scape of balls-to-the-wall instrumentation and the vocals become more and more frenetic as they reach the spine-tingling conclusion of “your reign will not last/I will rather swallow poison.”
The scene is set perfectly for an album that perches itself at maximum aggression and stubbornly refuses to relent. The twin punch of Gutter Marathon and Kurts Last Will is one of the year’s most dangerous double headers, pumping out so much malice and contempt in just 1:23 and 2:16 respectively – it’s a real whistle-stop tour of scorn. Meanwhile, Naileater carries a phenomenal riff that leaves the venomous barked vocals playing second fiddle to remarkable effect. It’s a bruising listen with heaps of groove right to the last second, taking in influences from all over the metal spectrum: a pinch of thrash mentality, a dash of blues swagger and a smidgen of punk vitriol makes for a potent concoction. Who knew a sludge band could be so catchy?
Ultimately though, RONGEUR is a sludge band and this shines through most of all on Underachiever. Delivered via shredding, angst-ridden screams and chugging, railroad-track instrumentation, this is where the band sounds at their most vital. It somehow simultaneously wastes no time in spitting in the face of the world, and relishes every moment of brutalising everything in sight.
For all of the malevolence on this record, listeners are afforded the odd moment to catch their breath: the middle third of Brace shows RONGEUR at their most contemplative and stripped back, while the staggering Years Of Withering is a drawn out and sumptuously layered cross-section of everything we love about sludge metal. In an album of merciless bludgeoning, the dynamics of these two tracks make them the standout contributions. Richly textured, thoughtfully crafted and introducing a cauldron of inspirations and ideas without abandoning the core identity of the band.
But it’s the overall pace and drive of Glacier Tongue that results in an album feeling far shorter than its 40 minute runtime; this is an album for anyone and everyone feeling angry at the world. Cathartic, relatable and perfectly suited to a world in turmoil – at least our collective misery now has a spectacular soundtrack.
Rating: 9/10
Glacier Tongue is set for release on November 5th via Fysisk Format.
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