Northeast death metal outfit Fuming Mouth have been around for a while—10 years now, to be exact—but this is probably the first time many listeners are hearing the band. Their new album, Last Day of Sun, came out on Friday and it’s one that should be on your radar.
At their core, not a whole lot has changed within the core of Fuming Mouth’s sound—they still play a form of death metal influenced by crust and hardcore and the band is still fronted by vocalist/guitarist Mark Whelan. That was up in the air prior to the album’s release; lead single “The Silence Beyond Life” featured awkward clean singing that clashed with the band’s other songwriting choices, while second single “I’ll Find You” was a lot closer to the expected level.
Fortunately, Last Day of Sun is full of the latter: well-written, heavy-but-melodic and creative. “Out of Time” conveys a sense of urgency despite it’s six-and-a-half-minute runtime, leading into the frantic “Respect & Blasphemy.” Even the interlude “Disgusterlude” contributes to the mood and isn’t just a minute of synthesizers to fill space on vinyl.
A late album highlight comes in the form of “Kill the Disease,” a fast-paced song driven by an HM-2 pedal and frantic performance featuring a chorus that repeats “Fight back. Kill the disease. / Stand up. Kill the disease. / It’s me versus this disease,” seemingly a reference to the singer’s battle with cancer, which he defeated in 2022.
Last Day of Sun is a really strong death metal album. By combining the savagery of their early releases with the more-refined approach of last album The Grand Descent and its follow-up EP Beyond the Tomb, Fuming Mouth find a sound that will take you by storm.
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