Review: “Stillness and Suffering” by Tongues of Mercury

Just six months after they announced themselves to an unsuspecting world with debut EP “A Sense of Injury” in July 2025, multi instrumentalist Shaun Mitchell (Dead Man Risen, Soul’s Darkness, Dreams of Nightmares) and vocalist Jaime Ribeiro (Semyazah, Priest Killer, Abattoir of Shrikes) return with a follow up titled “Stillness and Suffering“. Inspired by various philosophical schools of thought, Tongues of Mercury have a desire to make music that is as thought provoking as it is heavy, seeking self-expression in the heaviest way possible. So what do the South African duo have in store for us this time?

Ribeiro’s savagely fierce vocals appear in the very first second of the industrially tinged blood and thunder that is “This Great War“, his voice a demonic force of nature that has the strength to dominate. Mitchell brings a rhythmic pummelling laced with groove, his weighty soundscapes breaking for Melodic Death Metal passages with mournful and melancholic leads that add depth and texture rather than simply being about that all out crush. What’s great is that you can hear the distinctive influence of Fear Factory and In Flames on this one sonically, those throat shredding vocals the element that elevates the music to a higher realm of existence.

A delicate introduction befitting of the song title graces “In Stillness and Suffering” before falling away to be replaced by big chugging chords and demonic vocals with just a hint of anguish, the ethereal touches in the background something that surfaces in nuance over multiple listens. Rhythmically this one has a nice stomp to it, the melancholia in the lyrical narrative something that doesn’t necessarily translate in the vocal performance because of how brutal the vocals are, not that that is necessarily a bad thing. Instead those feelings are conveyed in the soundscape, which are particularly evident on “Circumventing The Daylight“, a cut which combines a clenched fist of defiance with a call to arms. What’s interesting is that the drum sound is quite low in the mix, the duo opting to make the vocals more prominent with the guitars a clear second. In some ways that plays to the bands strengths but it doesn’t always work to their advantage because there is so much force behind those harsh uncleans that there are times that they threaten to drown everything out.

“Bereavement” has the darker, heavier edge of “Conjured” era Kissing Candice with some similar flavours in the rhythmic patterns, Tongues of Mercury very much focused on groove in their approach. Lyrically this one muses on the ideas that death is merely the beginning and thus one does not need to grieve after losing a loved one, however you can feel the tension, the push and pull of the philosophy as it cuts against natures grain. Arguably the stand out of the collection, this one resonates the most, aided and abetted by a darker atmosphere and plenty of monstrous riffs. You know what? It’s almost as if the duo didn’t leave the studio after completing work on “A Sense of Injury” because as a record this one takes what they did with that sands down some of the rough edges… [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. This Great War
2. In Stillness and Suffering
3. Circumventing The Daylight
4. Bereavement

“Stillness and Suffering” by Tongues of Mercury is out 23rd January 2026 and is available over at bandcamp.