Snake Tongue – “Raptor’s Breath” [Album Review]

Swedish rockers Patrik, Fredrik, Niklas, Martin and Samuel, collectively known as Snake Tongue, describe their hard-hitting music as “punk, hardcore, metal” and are making their recorded debut with the release of this nine-track offering, Raptor’s Breath.

Mixed by Kurt Ballou (Converge) the aggressive title track gets things underway and, although it’s a bit much for me, I have no doubt fans of Scandinavian metal will enthusiastically lap up the raw, chaotic sound that borders on uncontrolled madness. The frenetic riffing continues on “In Stone” but, without wanting to sound old, it was just too much of a noise and I moved on to the next track before it had finished.

While it all gets a bit much at times, metal fans will be delighted to hear that, on this record, there’s very little let up from the relentless, no-holds-barred mayhem. Elsewhere, I did detect a bit of a tune on “Altar” making the experience more enjoyable than the tracks that had preceded it and, with “Lashes” seeing the band head in a slower direction (with the death growl intact), things became a little more pleasing to my tired old ears helped further by the more enjoyable “Ghost Dance” too.

Despite the low-rating, Raptor’s Breath is an ambitious, well-executed debut from a clearly very talented band, but it’s just not really my cup of tea I’m afraid.

Raptor’s Breath Track Listing:

01. Raptor’s Breath
02. In Stone
03. Post Mortem Spasms
04. Altar
05. Lashes
06. The Horror
07. Ghost Dance
08. Death Dance
09. The Narcissist

Run Time: 27:02
Release Date: March 11, 2016

Check out the track “Altar”