Introducing: Church Tongue

Indianapolis hard-hitters Church Tongue conjure up a vicious concoction of complex, breakneck, uncompromising and utterly brilliant metalcore that they describe as “dark, melodic, and fast.” But the band offer up a sense of intrigue with a superb new EP that offers a fresh take on “the different kinds of love.”

Church Tongue, formed of PSYCHO-FRAME vocalist Mike Sugars, guitarists Chris Sawicki and Knocked Loose’s Nicko Calderon, bassist Jack Sipes and drummer Kyle Spinell, met going to local shows and playing with each others’ former bands before deciding to start something together. And on the sound they’ve crafted, Nicko told us: “I would say the Church Tongue sound is a melting pot and a modern take on your favorite Deathwish records.”

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Our latest taste of this is their new single When It Betrays, which was released last week. It opens up with a sinister intro as guitars and synths creep around over rolling drums, before a huge cry of “I shed my skin” ushers in vicious guitars and drums supporting heavy screamed vocals. It launches into a wild opening verse with cool stabbing guitars then piercing guitars and intense rolling drums support the relentlessly heavy vocals. That soon gives way to an unexpected chorus with guttural vocals alongside cleans. The clean vocals return, setting up a section of seriously heavy chugging guitars that are joined by more vicious screams to bring the track to a close.

On the track, Nicko said: “The reception for When It Betrays has been phenomenal! More than what we could’ve asked for. If you haven’t listened yet, you can expect an anthem for Straight Edge (though we aren’t a straight edge band) and a mosh part that kicks ass.”

If that’s got you hooked, then we firmly recommend the seriously heavy Bury Me (One Thousand Times), which opens up with filthy stabs of guitar over huge drums. Vicious vocals take over with rhythmic guitars and little flurries, which intensify with stabbing guitars. The pace suddenly drops, before going into all kinds of darkness as piercing guitars and more intense drums support wild vocals. That feeds into more powerful rhythmic guitars and heavy vocals, before dropping into an ominous repeating guitar note and a filthy low-tuned chugging guitar chord under seriously heavy vocals to close.

Those two tracks come from the band’s fantastic upcoming EP You’ll Know It Was Me, which is released next Friday (14 February). “I truly cannot wait for this EP to be out in the world,” Nicko told us. “This band has honed in on everything we fell in love with about metal and hardcore music, and we feel as if we wrote six songs that represent that. I’m nervous for people to hear it. My hope is that the listener hears all of the nuances and homages I’ve made to our influences and that my friends who know us hear and feel the love we have for them and how they’ve inspired every note on this record. The listener should expect a raw representation of this band.”

We’ve had a sneak peek at the EP and, trust us, it goes every bit as hard as the first two single releases. It opens up with a vicious smack to the mouth with opening track Heart Of Darkness, before 86 seconds of chaos on One Hand Wrapped Around The Sun, and a naughty riff opening up the magnificently intense The Fury Of Love, which closes with the huge guest vocals of Initiate’s Crystal Pak. And it closes with title track You’ll Know It Was Me, which has been described to us as “the most disturbing declaration of love ever committed to tape” and features George Clarke of Deafheaven. Do yourself a favour and check out the savage section of wild vocals, pounding drums and wild guitars that drop into a delicious riff and intense vocals and set up the huge atmospheric ending to the EP.

Touching on the theme of that final track ties into the EP’s broader subject, as the band describe it as a “short record about love” – and, indeed, it’s no coincidence it’s being released on Valentine’s Day. Mike says: “​Love looks like a lot of things, and each track touches on it in its own way. People close to me have heard about me wanting to make this kind of record for a long time. I just hadn’t grown enough to realise the dream of it, and I knew it had to be a Church Tongue record. I’ve been with this band, these guys, for the majority of my life now. I’ve made records with other bands, and so have the other guys, but this idea felt sacred to my beginnings. I knew this record was in us, was who we are, and I’m honoured to have made it with my brothers.”

And Nicko added: “Thematically, Mike wanted to write about the different kinds of love and the different ways that you can love—for example, loving yourself enough to end a toxic friendship, or loving yourself enough to become sober. And the very last song is quite literally a love song for him and his wife, about how if he dies before her, he will haunt her forever.”

The Church Tongue sound, especially their newer material, has been influenced by the likes of Hollow Earth, Converge, Turmoil and Cave In. And on what inspires them to write music, Nicko explained:  “I touched on it briefly, but my primary influences are my friends. Might be cliche to say, but touring with my friends’ bands and hearing their records that they put out; the energy and essence they put into their craft truly inspires my writing. Not really any common themes or topics, just what is weighing on us in that time.”

Church Tongue have serious pedigree in the metal scene, and this new EP sees them really make their mark. They’ll be working around Mike and Nicko’s busy schedules, but do have plans to write a debut album and play a few smaller tours in the US – with international tours possibly in the mix in the future. That includes a few dates next week, starting in Peoria on Thursday (13 Feb), before playing in Indianapolis, Columbus and Evansville over the following three nights. Ticket info is here.

And Nicko added: “You’ll Know It Was Me, honestly, is an EP we wrote for ourselves. We wrote it because we love this music and we have fun doing it. I hope that you will enjoy listening to it as much as we did writing it. All six songs come out on Valentine’s Day via Pure Noise Records. Thanks for listening.”

You can follow Church Tongue on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.