ALBUM REVIEW: I Speak The Truth, Yet With Every Word Uttered, Thousands Die – Gnaw Their Tongues

GNAW THEIR TONGUES is foremost among the macabre, anti-musical manifestations of Maurice de Jong – longstanding and highly-prolific affiliate of the Dutch extreme metal scene. Over ten studio albums and countless EPs, de Jong has used GNAW THEIR TONGUES as an exploratory project to traverse the boundaries between black metal, dark ambient, drone and industrial noise. In the process, de Jong has succeeded in giving expression to many of humanity’s more esoteric and sinister tendencies: sexual violence, erotic deviance, imprisonment, torture, disease and eschatology all serve as grist to the mill. The result is a vicious, bleak cacophony; as evocative of the chilling soundscapes of ABRUPTUM as the harsh-noise architecture of MERZBOW. One doesn’t so much listen to GNAW THEIR TONGUES as one endures it. The atonal dirge, raw shrieking and sparse musical features of Reeking, Pained and Shuddering, for example, would quickly bludgeon even seasoned black and death metal fans into submission. Yet, there is a perverse thrill to be had in allowing oneself to be led down into the cruel, nihilistic world of GNAW THEIR TONGUES – if nothing else, to see just how far one can go.

GNAW THEIR TONGUES has always incorporated elements of soundscaping, ambience and drone, and I Speak The Truth, Yet With Every Word Uttered, Thousands Die is mostly defined by this approach. Moods and atmospheres are explored at length, allowing the listener to attune to the complex layers of sound and focus on their textural, rather than musical, qualities. In the hands of de Jong, this approach is more seizure than sedation. Opening pair, comprising the titular track and Purity Coffins, build saturated walls of noise amidst agonised shrieking, before the mechanical speed and hostility of White Void Black Wounds takes over.

With GNAW THEIR TONGUES, de Jong usually strikes a compelling balance between building dread and violent eruptions of intensity, but I Speak The Truth, Yet With Every Word Uttered, Thousands Die feels sparse in places. To Rival Death in Beauty and A Sombre Gesture In The Faint Light Of Dusk, especially, serve to break the pace of more intense tracks rather than accentuating them. Here Is No Corruption deploys lo-fi drum programming to excellent effect, setting the stage neatly for the album’s centrepiece and climax Abortion Hymn, which must rank among the most cathartic in GNAW THEIR TONGUES’ canon.

For many, I Speak The Truth, Yet With Every Word Uttered, Thousands Die will be regarded as the necessary foil of de Jong’s highly prolific experimentation. As the project abstracts away from its black metal foundations, and forsakes conventional rhythm almost entirely, there is increasingly less structure to ground the maelstrom of industrial noise and foreboding drone, which de Jong markedly excels at. Formlessness brings with it its own sense of unease, of course, and GNAW THEIR TONGUES has always played on the very fringes of listenability, but one wonders if the album as a whole hasn’t strayed a little too far in this respect. Alternatively, I Speak The Truth, Yet With Every Word Uttered, Thousands Die could be understood as a reassertion of the project’s industrial and noise credentials, orientating GNAW THEIR TONGUES even further away from conventional metal structures and instruments. Those who came looking for more decidedly black metal fare can turn to any number of de Jong’s other projects – particularly HAGETISSE’s The Seven Sorrows Of The Virgin, released earlier this year, which colourfully reimagines a classic nineties black metal sound.

Rating: 7/10

I Speak the Truth, Yet With Every Word Uttered, Thousands Die is out now via Consouling Sounds. 

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