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FUMING MOUTH “The Ringing Bell”
FUMING MOUTH “The Ringing Bell”
By Dr. Abner Mality
The first time I heard Massachusetts’ FUMING MOUTH on their LP “Last Day Of Sun”, it was like listening to a band who had no idea of their own identity yet. The Swedish death metal crunch was there for sure on certain tracks and the brutal hardcore beatdown was there in spades, but there were also injections of boilerplate groove metal and even SLIPKNOT style nu-metal.
So which way would “The Ringing Bell” lean? Bandleader Mark Whelan has had a grueling experience battling cancer for the last few years and seems to have gotten on top of it. That would surely have some influence on FUMING MOUTH’s sound. Well, the good news is that this new record is indeed more focused and intense than “Last Day of Sun”. Almost all of the “core” and “nu-metal” fat has been trimmed and the emphasis on chainsaw Swedish death riffs and chaotic hardcore is ramped up. It’s a leaner beast and heavier all the way around.
But FUMING MOUTH still have a way to go to hit the level of a truly top notch band. The songwriting often seems simple to the point of mindless and Whelan’s hoarse screams and shouts can be on the grating side. The overuse of squealing feedback is also unpleasant…a lot of death-adjacent hardcore bands overuse this gimmick. It just adds noise, not power. The drumming of one Jay Weinberg is really punishing throughout and does help up the beefiness of the music. There is something about the songs here that sounds too pat, too expected. That’s what makes the more melodic thrust of the title track so interesting. And when a more composed guitar solo shows up, as in “Hidden In the Moor”, it makes your ears perk up.
“The Ringing Bell” is the best FUMING MOUTH yet and proves they are working on what they need to. It provides a brisk 33 minutes of punishing heaviness. Maybe the next time out, they will finally nail the sound they are after.
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