Gnaw Their Tongues – The Genesis of Light (Recommendation)

“It’s the end of the world as we know it“, R.E.M. were right. Probably they had an advanced copy of The Genesis of Light. Although “light” may not have the worst associations, while listening to this album one gets the feeling that this light may be the annihilating flash of light.

The origin story of The Genesis of Light reads like the prelude to the aforementioned extinction. Some of the material is up to 17 years old, rediscovered on a forgotten hard drive and reworked. An experiment that was able to flourish, forgotten by time, and now brought into the light of day.

The Genesis of Light is like opening the box of Pandora: those 4 meditations sound like gazing at an ancient apocalypse ritual. All four tracks have in common that they begin with this dreading, droning sounds before a wall of guitar-sounds crashes onto the listener.

With albums of this kind, it’s hard to pick out a single highlight, because flow is the defining factor. The atmosphere of each individual song is so gripping that, figuratively speaking, you don’t want to close your eyes for fear of missing something. Only the silence between tracks offers the chance to blink. You stare straight into the sun until it’s over—or until you go blind (to quote Thrice).

Gnaw Their Tongues forged an album which literally stood the test of time. The Genesis of Light is a fascinating album that won’t lighten up your day but it will surely illuminate your playlists with its cinematic atmosphere.