Dungeon Vision

New Zealand duo Earth Tongue were no strangers to hellish distortion and Satanic psychedelia before teaming with Ty Segall to record their third full length, Dungeon Vision. The pair’s talent for top-volume riffs, sinister vocal harmonies, and overpowering performances that are both tight and chaotic at once defined their sound for much of their discography. With Segall’s help, Earth Tongue don’t necessarily amplify their demonic psych heaviness as much as they bring it to a new level of singed crispiness. There’s a bit more of a prog sensibility to the blazing guitars and odd time signature grooves of the title track, as with the Black Sabbath-meets-King Crimson sludginess of “Watchtower.” When Earth Tongue’s Gussie Larkin and Ezra Simons sing together, they conjure a strange and disturbing affect, with harmonies that are unnervingly close and sung with a harsh precision. Add to this combination lyrics that feel pulled directly from a particularly gruesome Dungeons and Dragons campaign, and the energy of the songs ends up feeling menacing in an over-the-top, slightly ridiculous way. Even when catching their breath on the relatively subdued ballad “Body of Water,” Earth Tongue sounds like they’re secretly enacting some kind of unholy ritual. “Silver Eye” is where all the elements of Dungeon Vision reach their apex. The song is made up of a series of unrelenting but quick-shifting riffs, full-bore drumming, and the kind of blitzed fuzz tones that have appeared on previous Segall-adjacent recordings. It offers a slightly clearer view of the band’s heaviness than their earlier albums, with the fuzz cutting a little deeper and the evil spirits flying unfettered. ~ Fred Thomas