REVIEW: Fixation - Speaking In Tongues

Norway's Fixation have prepared the follow up to their 2023 debut album ‘More Subtle Than Death’ with their new EP ‘Speaking In Tongues’. After their debut garnered them the historic honour of being the first metal band to win the Breakthrough Of The Year award at the Norwegian Publishing Awards earlier this year, big things are expected.

Fixation are Jonas Hansen on vocals, Martin Selen and Tobias Østerdal on guitar, drummer Ola Dønnem and Øyvind Lunde on bass. Øyvind is the group's newest member, who listeners may know from Yesterdaze and fellow band member Jones's other band Beautiful Beautiful, and was announced as such shortly after single ‘Tyrannical Miracle’ released.

Starting off with the eery gradual build up with interlude ‘(grow a flower)’, we get a sense of Hansen singing about wanting to belong. This leads right into the first single ‘Random Acts Of Violence', which has a feel similar to that of Bring Me The Horizon. There's a big melodic chorus, powerful lyrics, and feelings of losing yourself or being alone.

Continuing into the second interlude '{pick the petal}', we get a feel of the soundscape that holds the listeners attention all throughout the EP, but then Fixation follow up with the hard hitting track ‘Blue Skies’ - filled with powerful riffs and screams, sprinkled with a heartfelt bridge containing feelings of rage and heartbreak, this holds the title of the EP's strongest track, and even acts as the unofficial title track due to containing the lyric "speaking in tongues".

Listeners will also notice upon a lookover of the lyrics of '{grow a flower}', that they are also the names of the interludes. Next up is second single and heaviest track ‘Tyrannical Miracle’, which is a real angry and melancholic journey bursting with crashing drums and a truly thought-provoking chorus - “You say question everything, well can I question you? Make us pray to your illusions. Your tyrannical miracle. Bathe in the blood of the worthy. This isn’t life like I knew it before.” - Fixation are clearly in their stride, and are a real gem from the Norwegian scene.

What Fixation has done here is take their listeners on a melodic journey, which may only be 20 minutes but allows them to escape into the sound of emotional turmoil, most especially during last track 'Fever Dreaming'. 'Speaking In Tongues' is a very solid EP and a great progression from the band's debut album, proving that they still have the lightning of that LP but adding in experience, with this being their best work yet. Fixation have a strong and bright future ahead of them if this is anything to go off of!

'Speaking In Tongues' will be released on October 11th via Indie Recordings.

Best Songs - Random Acts Of Violence, Blue Skies, Fever Dreaming.

Words: Lucas Grayson

Photo: Sebastian Ludvigsen