Tunguska - Decline


London-based mob Tunguska return with their sophomore EP, Decline. It sees them sounding more impressive and more crushing than ever.  

Opening with cold, industrial noise to set the scene before a punishing, jaunty, dissonant guitar riff bursts through your speakers, Tunguska offer a healthy dose of brutality in 'A Cold Symmetry', showing with little haste the heaviness they are capable of. Morphing into a more sinister mood with a well-placed key change, their use of clean vocals is as effective as the roaring death growls. Tunguska strike a satisfying balance between the likes of Korn on one end and Meshuggah on the other. 'Hive Mind Puritan' follows in a similar vein, featuring Mike Pilat of Herod on guest vocals. The guitar riffing shows off a cool approach to the modern, post-Meshuggah school of death metal, and accompanies Sean Gibson's vocals that, again, alternate nicely between stomach-churning screams and carefully-placed melodies. An infectious amount of groove keeps the listener entertained, although clever use of polyrhythmic elements provide evidence of Tunguska's several musical layers.


'Crossroads', a desolate interlude, passes into 'Slave That Wears a Crown'. Its dissonant main riff crushes with the weight of a ten ton hammer - possibly the heaviest song on the EP, it stands out in its uncompromising brutality. The section led by clean vocals and more jangly, melodic guitars does, however, provide a fantastic contrast with its emotive, catchy singing. The idea of clean singing may be a dirty word in some circles, but it really doesn't take anything away from the harsh nature of the song - quite the opposite. Bleak throughout, it's hard to put a fault on this track. 'Changeling' rounds Decline to a close with a chilling industrial riff and plenty more death metal-inspired heaviness. It has shades of Neurosis and demonstrates Tunguska's ability to create atmosphere through instrumentation; respect is due to the musical ear of Marek Banaszewski, who expertly takes control of programming on this release (as well as all the guitar work!).

Decline gets better with every listen, with lots of new elements in the music to discover as you hit the replay button. It's surprising how long some of the songs are, considering none overstay their welcomes, and it's hard to nail it into a single genre. Fans of sludge metal, death metal, post metal, alternative metal, progressive metal and even industrial metal will find something here, though. Easily worth your time if your favourite bands fit into any of these categories. One word to describe the EP? Cold. It's the soundtrack to a chilling Arctic dystopian nightmare.

We really enjoyed their Untethered Guillotine single last year as well.

MN

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