Review Summary: Mustachecore
Earth Groans has embraced a lot of change throughout the years. Despite being a rather young band, they’ve experienced numerous member changes (aside from the vocalist, Jeremy Schaeffer) and have wandered different directions throughout their various efforts. Though they’ve maintained their chaotic elements of metalcore, they’ve gone from the abrasive sound of the debut to the more melodic, cleaner style of their past couple EPs. With
Tongue Tied, the aggressive crew continues to expand their sound, this time dropping their cleaner tendencies for a return to their dissonant cacophony of chaos.
Clocking in at just over 17 minutes,
Tongue Tied plays like a quick, swift punch to the gut. From the eerie and haunting reverb-laden guitars of “Tongue Tied” to the crescendo of alarming dissonance in “Discordant Symphony,” Earth Groans hits the ground running and never slows down. Each track is filled with a beatdown of riffs of dissonant chords and relentless chugging. “Overgrown”’s intense contrast of chromatic palm-muted progressions and
panic chords gives a groove that is simultaneously catchy and brutal. The simplistic rhythm of “Same Blood” is effective with its infectious riff as it glides over the two-step groove of the drums. Throughout every track, Schaeffer’s vocals, although not groundbreaking, do a phenomenal job at maintaining the intensity in
Tongue Tied. Sticking to his consistently strong mid-range scream/shout, every song has an elevated energy as he effortlessly lays down his performance.
Although the main appeal of Earth Groans is their abrasive nature,
Tongue Tied features a few moments of melody that truly add an extra element of ingenuity. Now, as I said before, they dropped their cleaner tendencies, which really means they got rid of the clean vocals. Instead, this time around, they let the instrumentation pull the weight of the melodies. The leads in the chorus of “Overgrown” provide a great framework for melody to soar amidst the intensity of the rest of the track. Following a barrage of chugs, the chorus progression of “Over the Edge” is intensely infectious with its catchy melodic earworm. Likewise, the aggressive “Same Blood” features a riff progression that is undeniably captivating with its slightly melodic tinge that gives a great dynamic than just simply being heavy.
Tongue Tied isn’t breaking any new ground here. It’s still Earth Groans doing their thing, but there’s just a bit more to it this time around. With this effort, it feels like the group has begun to truly find their identity, zeroing in on their usual chaotic metalcore style while integrating moments soaring melodies that aren’t reliant on clean vocals. Even though it isn’t breaking ground, it doesn’t necessarily need to.
Tongue Tied embraces what Earth Groans does best: infectiously intense metalcore.
