Twitching Tongues is an American heavy metal band from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, founded in 2009. The band has released four albums: ''Sleep Therapy'' in 2012, ''In Love There Is No Law'' in 2013, ''Disharmony'' in 2015, and ''Gaining Purpose Through Passionate Hatred'' in 2018. They have also released two EPs – 2011's ''I & I (Insane and Inhumane)'' and 2012's ''Preacher Man.''

History

The band was founded in Los Angeles in 2009 by brothers Colin and Taylor Young. In 2012, their first album, ''Sleep Therapy'', was released, followed by ''In Love There Is No Law'' the next year. Their 2015 album, ''Disharmony'', was positively reviewed by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's Lars Gotrich, who wrote that Twitching Tongues has "been particularly adept at the moody mosh." The album also received a favorable reception from

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

's John Hill, who opined that "hardcore is at its best when it takes risks", using the band's song "Asylum Avenue" as an example. Twitching Tongues toured internationally after the release of their earliest pair of albums, sometimes alongside other metal bands such as Harm's Way. In a 2018 ''

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

'' interview, frontman Colin Young said that

Peter Steele Peter Thomas Ratajczyk (January 4, 1962 – April 14, 2010), known professionally as Peter Steele, was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist and composer of the gothic metal band Type O Negative. Before forming Type O N ...

had been a formative influence on his music and the band's work. After being on hiatus for a couple of years, Twitching Tongues in April 2023 re-released a newly re-mixed and remastered version of their debut album, ''Sleep Therapy'', and started playing live shows again. For

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

2023, the band released an EP with Misfits cover songs called Twitchfits Vol.1, also playing a nine-song set of Misfits songs in

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

on October 28. For the occasion the band was billed as Twitchfits. Drummer Cayle Sain died in December 2023, at the age of 31. He was replaced by original drummer Mike Cesario. The band released Twitchfits Vol. 2 on October 24, 2024; a 10-song album with Misfits covers.

Musical style and influences

Critics rarely categorise Twitching Tongues' music under established music genres: ''New Noise'' magazine writer Sean Gonzalez stated that "Trying to confine Twitching Tongue's sound to a specific genre is like pulling your own teeth, it's hard and no one really enjoys the outcome", while ''Metal Injection'' stated that "Every stylistic shift that is seemingly laced through this web of genres shouts originality." In the cases where they have been categorised, critics have called them

groove metal Groove metal, sometimes also called neo-thrash or post-thrash, is a subgenre of heavy metal music that began in the early 1990s. The genre is primarily derived from thrash metal, but played in slower tempos, and making use of rhythmic guitar pa ...

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

and

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge doom or simply sludge) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, down-tuned guitars and nihilis ...

. They incorporate elements of

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

, traditional heavy metal and

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

. They have cited influences including

Type O Negative Type O Negative was an American gothic/doom metal band formed in Brooklyn, New York City in 1989 by Peter Steele (bass, lead vocals), Kenny Hickey (guitar, co-lead vocals), Josh Silver (keyboards, backing vocals), and Sal Abruscato (drums ...

Carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they ar ...

Bolt Thrower Bolt Thrower were a British death metal band from Coventry. They formed in 1986 and released their first album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. The band then shifted to a new record label, Earache Records, soon becoming one of the best selling ba ...

, Candlemass, Merauder, Only Living Witness,

Cave In Cave In is an American rock band that formed in 1995 in Methuen, Massachusetts. The band's lineup solidified with the 1998 release of '' Until Your Heart Stops'' through Hydra Head Records, and their early albums were prominent in the metalco ...

, Crowbar and

Coheed and Cambria Coheed and Cambria is an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York, formed in 1995. It consists of Claudio Sanchez (vocals, guitars, keyboards), Travis Stever (guitars, vocals), Josh Eppard (drums, keyboards, backing vocals), and Za ...

Members

;Current *Colin Young – vocals (2009–present) *Taylor Young – guitar, vocals (2009–present) *Michael Cesario – drums (2009–2015, 2023–present) *Sean Martin – guitar (2015–present) *Alec Faber – bass (2016–present) ;Former *Keith Paull – bass (2009–2012) *Lee Orozco – guitar (2012–2015) *Kyle Thomas – bass (2012–2015) *Cayle Sain – drums (2015–2023) (died 2023) *Anthonie Gonzalez – bass (2015–2016) Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

*''Sleep Therapy'' (2012, I Scream) *''In Love There Is No Law'' (2013, Closed Casket Activities) *''Disharmony'' (2015, Metal Blade) *''Gaining Purpose Through Passionate Hatred'' (2018, Metal Blade)

EPs

*''I & I (Insane and Inhumane)'' (2011, Photobooth Records) *''Preacher Man'' (2012, Closed Casket Activities) *''Disharmony Zero'' (2018, Metal Blade) *''Twitchfits Vol. 1'' (2023, Closed Casket Activities) *''Twitchfits Vol. 2'' (2024, Closed Casket Activities)

References

External links

*
Twitching Tongues
at

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records (often shortened to Metal Blade) is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982 based in the U.S. state of California. The label primarily focuses on heavy metal. History Metal Blade Records was ...

* {{discogs artist, Twitching Tongues Hardcore punk groups from California Musical groups established in 2009 Heavy metal musical groups from California