Black Tongue - Nadir (2018)^{Release ID: 18297}

Still exploring deathcore is the phrase that will probably be on my gravestone, such is the infrequency with which I bother to visit the sub-genre. This record stands out due to the “breakdown factory” that I have heard the previous release from Black Tongue being described as has seen a downturn in its output based on my few listens through this, their third release. Whilst the conveyer belts have not completely ground to a halt, there is a lot to be said for repeat visits to Nadir to truly understand the depth of the ten tracks on offer.

Only Ultima Necat seems to dwell in that truly generic deathcore space. The rest of the track listing is more of an expansive experience. Incorporating grindcore and black metal alongside the slower and abysmally heavy sections of other tracks. The album has a narrative and is therefore told as a story, each track focusing on a life being forced to answer for all the wrongdoings it has undertaken. This cruel judgement is emphasized on tracks such as Parting Soliloquy with its begging and pleading lyrics making as equal a splash as the start-stop percussion and menacing atmospheres. This is by far the most obviously descriptive track in terms of the vocals, but it never strays towards being boring or mundane. Instead, the instrumentation weaves into the space the usually more rapid vocals would fill to pace the track well.

The addition of the Celtic Frost cover is unexpected, yet it works well with the rest of tracks of the album and the cleaner singing that punctuates the track also helps it to stand out from the pack at the same time. Nadir then lives up to the promise of the crawling darkness that the album artwork offers. In parts it is terrifying, resonating with the darker edges of my psyche far too well for my comfort in places. An epic exploration of suffering, judgement and execution, Nadir is a triumph of an album that gets further under your skin with successive listens. In my brief experience of deathcore, it is one of the more mature offerings and one that is perhaps moving the farthest away from that generic sound that so easily lands so much criticism.