Review by Shannon Shumaker
With their dark debut full-length, Die With Your Tongue Out, Colorado’s Tigerwine have established themselves as a mature and fully realized group of musicians. If you caught the band’s EP, Lull, released back in 2015, then Die With Your Tongue Out will be just the expansion you were looking for. With a solid sound, deliberate concept and dark moods, Tigerwine have created a hard-hitting, emotionally exhausting release that will certainly set them apart from the pack.
Opening Die With Your Tongue Out after the intro is “Spit,” which feels like the build before the break. Dark, looming and aggressive, the clean vocals in this song hold the same amount of power and aggression as the screams, making for a very even and carefully crafted sound. Musically, the pounding, frantic drums add a sense of urgency while dark guitar further sets the mood. Where “Spit” is a big more melodic, the following “Rainier” is more aggressive, adding layer upon layer of intensity to the album.
The dark tone established right off the bat is present throughout the entirety of Die With Your Tongue Out, but like the band’s debut EP, there’s enough diversity from track to track to keep things fun and interesting to listen to. “Sign,” for instance is a lot slower and more empty feeling, driven by heavy guitar and bass, and is followed by the chaotic “110.” Sonically, “110” is one of the most diverse songs on the album, with wild guitar work and hard hitting vocals coupled with blink and you miss it sound changes. This track showcases all of Tigerwine’s strengths without trying too hard, and the following “Double-Edged” follows suit.
In fact, the only real downside on the album is more of a nitpicky thing. Despite the darker themes and moods on the album, there isn’t necessarily a clear beginning, middle and end, sometimes making it feel never-ending. This can be seen as both a positive and negative thing, though, and at the end of the day, Die With Your Tongue Out is still an incredibly diverse and complex release. The final few songs, for instance, are easily some of the strongest on the record. The stunning “Soot” is followed closely by the somewhat softer and eerie “Heritage,” which does a great job in shifting the tone of the album. Then comes the bright and big final track, “High Roof,” which leaves you longing for even more and ready to hit play once again.
The songs on Die With Your Tongue Out are certainly haunting and dark, but instead of leaving you with a feeling of hopelessness, you’ll end the album feeling cleansed and ready to listen all over again, which I highly recommend doing. There are so many intricate little moments throughout the album that are easy to miss when not giving it your full attention – stunning clean vocal breaks, heavy, thick bass or intricate guitar – making it well worth it to listen to on repeat.
Rating: 4/5
Listen to “110” or “Spit”
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