Tongues – Forml​ø​se Stjerner Review

The niche within a niche label I, Voidhanger often scrapes the fringes of underground styles for acts embracing the weird, the strange, the vaguely musical—curious but rarely captivating for me. Par for the course, I’d never heard of Denmark’s Tongues before snagging up Forml​ø​se Stjerner, but something about the tumultuous landscape of the nihilistically nautical cover called to me like a Danish white whale, a hvidhval, if you will. It’s eerie. The sound of whipping winds, crashing waves, the spray of an angry ocean all have a smell, one that tells of a creaking boat amidst an endless horizon. At night, the ocean has only starlight to guide, but when Forml​ø​se Stjerner (formless stars) fill the dark sky, only blackness and the call of a vengeful sea await.

Tongues prior outing, 2017’s debut full-length Hreilia, couldn’t have fully informed us where Tongues would go next. Enjoyable as it is, the gothic atmosphere that surrounds its death metal pummel amidst an occult blackened melodicism rings in line with contemporaries like Haunter and Suffering Hour. And, similar to how those acts have evolved with their latest outings Discarnate Ails and The Cyclic Reckoning respectively, Forml​ø​se Stjerner sees Tongues exploring how space can distill an ominous texture to their already otherworldly sound—four tracks that traverse nearly forty minutes. Heroic, startling, lush, Tongues cares little for convention throughout, letting portentous waves build like a tide that aims to engulf.

Primary guitarist Thorbjørn Lovmand Glindtvad (Lonesome, Lawmand Werner) has little presence in the metal world outside of Tongues and it shows in beautifully toned ways. Each solo, at least one per monstrous track, exudes a classic rock heroism with a sinister scale vibe, letting subtle vibrato and whammy work ring notes with a ghastly tail. These wobbled and chiming riffs glisten over heavy snare pounding and brooding synth layers, reminding me of earlier Hail Spirit Noir work—still black metal in attitude, but progressive in reckless sustain and psychedelic undertone (“Awake in the Macrochasm,” “Mouth of the Deep”).¹ All of the effortlessly mellow charm that Glindtvad bestows upon Forml​ø​se Stjerner culminates in the massive title track, which rustles through a sea-faring Morricone-esque setting to bring about an ominously recursive and grandiose conclusion. Cranking volume reveals how synths slowly erupt under the incessant and reaching guitar refrains—closer to the hellish honky-tonk of Wovenhand than any metal—from the first throbs of “Elder Fire” to the final smolder at close. In this beautifully dynamic master every below-deck groan plays sneakily under refractive six-string melodies whose power rests in a delicately-placed nuance.

And although Forml​ø​se Stjerner boasts calls of black, death, and doom across its tags and expression, a cinematic post-genre attitude and ever-shifting vocal assault guide unify each extended form number. Fully possessed, Antonius Lovmand Marcussen (Arkaeon, Hahn Kult) warps about a straightforward yet ripping rasp and a demented Arcturus yowl—no two verses land quite the same. And as the album progresses Marcussen treads the shredded and histrionic path of latter-day Dødheimsgard in pained wail and possessed narration, including too a voicing that feels in place with the Webber-ian theater that pervades Black Medium Current. However, throughout Forml​ø​se Stjerner all polish is of rust and rotted-through wood, Marcussen’s madness peeling veneer with shredded cries of “THE WHEEL TUUURNS” that cast off “Awake in the Macrochasm” and turn the page to the abyssal screech that shatters the onset of “Mouth of the Deep.” And with fractured howls of cavernous death followed by the psychedelic groove of a gnarled doom, lingering incantations decay into solos that signal like a light through fog that defines the rest of the journey only to be swallowed whole (“Forml​ø​se Stjerner”).

Existential, esoteric, and more atmospheric than many things that stake such a claim, Formløse Stjerner delivers a package that demands open ears, open lyrics sheets,² and an open mind to shine. Though not as outwardly avant-garde as the plethora of other confident yet caustic offerings of Tongues’ labelmates, this sophomore outing demands equally as much of the listener for full immersion. Luckily, the layers of dissolving guitar melodies that fortify its labyrinthian structure seduce the curious with endless morsels of sudden, distant harmonic lines and treacherous shifting in the face of tense repetition. The steep between albums has done Tongues wonders settling into greatness from the drift of competency, and if time brings us nothing more, we will always have Forml​ø​se Stjerner.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 11 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: I, Voidhanger Records | Bandcamp
Websites: tonguesdk.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/tonguesdk
Releases Worldwide: July 28th, 2023