5 Albums I Want To Be Buried With #35: Tongues of Mercury!

Hailing from Gqeberha in South Africa, Tongues of Mercury was formed in 2025 by multi instrumentalist Shaun Mitchell (Dead Man Risen, Soul’s Darkness, Dreams of Nightmares) and vocalist Jaime Ribeiro (Semyazah, Priest Killer, Abattoir of Shrikes). Crossing borders and boundaries in Melodic Death, Groove, Experimental and Death Metal sub-genres, they create philosophy-inspired heavy music. Put simply they want to give you something to snap your neck to that is also thought provoking. Having released their sophomore EP “Stillness and Suffering” back in January we got talking to them about a few albums they might like to take to the afterlife…

The premise is simple: “Back in ancient Egypt they believed that the items their Kings were buried with would travel with them into the afterlife and so part of the burial ritual would see the mummified bodies surrounded by chariots, gold and more. Fast forward to now. If there were five albums that you’d want buried in the coffin with you to take to the afterlife, what would you choose?”

Shaun Mitchell: “Machine” by Static-X

“This album was one of the first albums that got me into heavy music. The opening track “Get To The Gone” punches you right in the face at start, then goes into such amazing grooviness. And I’m all about dat grooviness. From start to finish, that album just made me fall in love with heavy music, especially groovy industrial metal. The simplicity and the structure of Static-X tracks are just pure genius. And yes, albums like Wisconsin Death Trip and Start A War are also so damn amazing, but I had to settle for the one that started it all for me.”

Shaun Mitchell: “With All Their Might” by Dyscarnate

“And again, it’s that pure awesome heavy ass groove that really gets me going. I lose my shit every time I listen to this masterpiece of an album. There are heavier bands out there for sure, but Dyscarnate just absolutely destroys with this album. Every track on this album is pure gold, and not once have I become tired of it. Never gets old for me.”

Jaime Ribeiro: “Ocean Machine: Biomech” by Devin Townsend

This was the sound of my university days, in large part. Heavy Devy never fails to lift the spirits, and the opening spoken-word lines of the track title Seventh Wave has stayed with me since the first time I heard it. Sister, 3 A.M., both deeply haunting and thought-provoking tracks. Not sure why, but the element of nostalgia really pulls on the heartstrings with his second album. It ticks so many boxes for me, with uplifting and rather motivational tracks like Life, soaring, almost mountainous numbers like Bastard, and snarly, semi-industrial hits like Regulator – this album just knocks the ball right out of the park. Powerful vocals, strategic placement of nostalgic synth bits, and generally high-impact phrasing on every level, there’s nothing about this release that I personally do not love.

Jaime Ribeiro: “Ghost Reveries” by Opeth

I’m not much of a progger, but this work from Opeth has been, for me, the pinnacle of their sound. As a vocalist, I’ve always idolised Mikael Åkerfeldt’s vocal ability, and this album clearly demonstrates the richness of his cleans, as well as the gut-punching brutality of his gutturals. With beautifully-honed pieces like the ever-popular The Grand Conjuration and The Baying of the Hounds, and then the piercing, hauntingly beautiful tracks like Hours of Wealth and Isolation Years, this release is a full-on journey, not just a bunch of tracks joylessly slapped together in compilation. The story-telling that has long defined a great deal of Opeth’s approach to songwriting is concisely represented by this album. It marks a time in my life where straight melo-death was satisfying to me, but also required deeper mystery, poetry, and a slow-burn element. I guess that means prog then, doesn’t it? Haha!

Jaime Ribeiro: “Hush Mortal Core” by Martin Grech

I was taken over by this genius’ earlier release, Unholy, back in 2007, and then discovered March of the Lonely, as well as a few other isolated tracks here and there, and I was utterly converted. As a lover of all things metal, I also have a deep love for dark music that cuts the heartstrings with piercing clarity rather than by taking a sledgehammer to the skull, and Hush Mortal Core is just SO insanely beautiful, so thought-provoking, moody, dynamic and real. I often recall thinking, sitting in the PC labs at UOFS in Bloemfontein, that if dark renaissance-era paintings had a modern sound, this album would be what it would sound like. Mothflower, Into the Sun and Auras Awol seamlessly stitch ghostly stretches to chuggy heaviness, and tracks like Nymphs in Heliacal Rising, Maelstrom Spark and Ecstasy Astral Melancholia slide into the soul like a silken snake. Gorgeous placement of synth, soaring vocals and beautifully atmospheric production make this release one that draws the listener to listen between the notes, drift in the silences, and THAT is something few musicians have gotten right the way Mr. Grech has.

You can find both EPs “A Sense of Injury” and “Stillness and Suffering” by Tongues of Mercury over at bandcamp