Artist: Baneful Tongue
Country: Norway
Label: Self-Released
Formats: Digital
Year: 2025
Baneful Tongue is the brainchild of S.B.E., the one and only member of the band. When exactly the band was formed is not entirely clear, but S.B.E. has quite some prior experience with the Stoner Rock / Doom Metal band Dunbarrow, and the Black Metal band Nemesis, which released their debut on Duplicate Records. And listening to the self-titled debut of Baneful Tongue, it is evident that experience pays off dividends straight from the get go.
Baneful Tongue keeps a good Norwegian tradition. And that is one that Norwegian Death Metal may be a rare thing, but it often manages to sound unique and refreshing. I’m referring to Sovereign and Abhorration, two recent bands firmly rooted in old school Death Metal that sounded both authentic and off-the-beaten-path. And the same goes for Baneful Tongue, which is probably best described at its core as Blackened Death Metal. One of the clearest influences coming back on the debut is that of the US band Black Curse. The riffs have that early Death Metal sound, where Thrash Metal was clearly used as a template to up the extremity. The vocals are also distinctly in a Death Metal direction, growls that blend the pitch of Martin van Drunen with the ferocity of Teitanblood and Wraath of Darvaza. But there’s clearly a Black Metal background here as well, shaped most clearly by Howls of Ebb. But certainly, hints of Deathspell Omega can also be heard throughout the riffs and most evident in the aptly titled ‘Divine Dissonance’, as well as the influence of the USBM band Leviathan (in particular their ‘Scar Sighted’ record). Finally, the distortion on the guitars is rather limited, giving them a somewhat dry sound that strongly reminds me of one of the Black Metal highlights of 2024, Death Like Mass’ ‘The Lord of Flies’.
Th result is a riff-driven, mostly uptempo record that is filled to the brim with an untamed spirit. With the not too distorted guitar sound, the emphasis is on the riffs and they are great: not too over the top in number but highly memorable and discerning. A great example is a track like ‘Impending Damnation’, led by a great main riff with nervous drums and intense vocals. In the opening licks of ‘Bells of Falsehood’ the Black Metal upbringing of Baneful Tongue is evident, drawing closely to ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas’ and one of the greatest bands to emulate that sound, Mare. But the threatening clean intermezzo shifts the mood, and the song even adds some clean chanting to great atmosphere effect. Here and there we hear some subtle keyboards to add a little bit more to the atmosphere, and there’s even a nicely placed falsetto in ‘Corrosive Scripture’ (who doesn’t love those!). But those are just some elements to diversify the record. Make no mistake about it, ‘Baneful Tongue’ is first and foremost a volatile affair!
The wild Blackened Death Metal of Black Curse mixed with a filthier version of Howls of Ebb, some Teitanblood ferocity and a flair of dissonance is what S.B.E. expertly composed here on ‘Baneful Tongue’. As far as I’m concerned it goes straight in there with Abhorration and Sovereign, not only as one of the better Death Metal bands to come from Norway, but also one of the most interesting Death Metal records in recent years. Someone please release this on vinyl!
