Twitching Tongues

Twitching Tongues are an anomaly in hardcore. Not only do they focus on operatic singing over yelling, they're also hardcore/metal wunderkind Taylor Young's least (consistently) heavy band. But, I mean, come on, they're competing with Nails, Disgrace and Ruckus. This isn't to say Twitching Tongues aren't, or can't be, heavy — when they take a break from the off-kilter, hauntingly melodic riffs, they are a monolith as crushing as Nails, though never as fast. Therein lays Twitching Tongue's greatest strength and weakness: while this juxtaposition makes the heavy parts that much more crushing, it also causes a yearning for the stranger melodies to hurry up, or disappear entirely. However, without those moments, In Love There Is No Law would feel empty and formulaic, offering the same options as other groups in Young's repertoire, not to mention the scene at large. By paying tribute to acts such as Life of Agony, Type O Negative and Sam Black Church, Twitching Tongues update a distinctly '90s sound for the Lockin' Out generation.