Sacred Mother Tongue – The Ruin of Man

I looked up where Sacred Mother Tongue’s origin is ”“ supposedly its members are from the UK. But I don’t believe it. Their sound is such a ridiculously copped version of American metalcore that it’s damn near impossible that they’re not from the US. Trouble is, metalcore, no matter where it comes from, sucks something awful. And SMT, and their debut LP The Ruin of Man (even the album title is a cliché!), is simply further proof of this undeniable fact. While the band’s performance is notable, its sound is not. Presumably, the worst description that a band can garner is “there’s absolutely nothing special about it.” Sadly, that’s exactly what SMT is. Calling SMT bland would be an insult to the color gray. The instrumentation, the mix, the song titles, it’s all been done before ”“ and been done better. There is simply nothing here that gives the band any memorable qualities. Even the lyrics are trite: “I am the scars upon your face/ I am the years you can’t erase/ I am your suffering inside/ I am the man you tried to hide.”Yet, perhaps the most frustrating thing about this record ”“ about this band, really ”“ is that they can’t decide which genre to steal from. The band is insipid and confused, a combination as dangerous as it is odd. Sometimes they wanna be a power metal band (‘The Suffering’), sometimes a metalcore band (‘Talking to the Ears of the Deaf’), and sometimes both within the same song (‘Wake Up Call’). Pick a genre. I don’t care which, just pick one. It’s almost as if the band is covering up its lack of character by perplexing the listener. Furthermore, the two interludes, ‘”¦The Assassin’ and ‘”¦My Sins Have Become My Fears,’ presumably exist in order to show that the band is multifaceted. Wrong. They only serve to slap the listener in the face and bash over their head the fact that SMT have a soft side and can take a step back from their (supposed) unrelenting brutality. Or something. Whatever, it only detracts from the actual songs. You’d think that would be a good thing, considering how fucking terrible this set is, but in actuality the interludes are just fucking terrible songs of a different type. Think of it as comparing cat shit to dog shit. There are so many more bands that actually have personality. Go find one that does. 25%Sacred Mother Tongue on Myspace