Richard HolmesFuming Mouth – Last Day Of Sun (Nuclear Blast)
Amongst the outright brutality of Last Day Of Sun, you can find hope.
Deep within its violent core, there’s a spark of light.
That’s because the album came from a place of real darkness.
In 2021, guitarist/vocalist Mark Whelan was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, just three weeks before Fuming Mouth were due to start recording their second album.
During his gruelling battle with the disease – which included chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant – Whelan re-shaped Last Day Of Sun.
“I was facing certain death,” says Whelan of that time. “But as I kept writing the album its theme became clear. You could die tomorrow. Seize the day.”
Seize the day he most certainly has.
Last Day Of Sun bristles with defiance and rages with raw emotion.
It’s the musical equivalent of breaking a siege.
It’s one hell of a record.
Fuming Mouth set the world ablaze
Fuming Mouth’s first forays saw the band combine the power of Entombed and Bolt Thrower with hardcore dynamics, creating a firestorm akin to the much-missed Nails.
2019’s The Grand Descent made a sizeable dent in the extreme metal underground… and showed the band’s promise.
But the thrilling Last Day Of Sun is several steps ahead of its predecessor. That’s obvious as soon as Out of Time opens the album with both savagery and subtlety, or when The Silence Beyond Life shifts from Swedish-style melancholy to a clean chorus that is frankly, arena-level – not to mention eye opening. “I’m on my own but I’m not dead yet so I’ll keep trying” roars Whelan. You can only imagine what the guy has been through.
There are some real surprises here.
Leaving Euphoria is a soul-searing anti-ballad, steeped in decay.
Postfigurement boasts some of the band’s most melodic fretwork to date.
But the Massachusetts outfit haven’t turned their backs on their sonic roots. Aided by Kurt Ballou’s stellar production job, songs like Kill the Disease and Respect and Blasphemy dial up the devastation… and give any band in USDM’s new wave food for thought.
However, it’s when the quartet combine that ferocity with pinpoint, streamlined songcraft that things really start to cook: the immense title track, The Sign Of Pain and the God-tier I’ll Find You are prime examples. If they don’t win Whelan and co. legions of new fans, there’s no justice in the world.
Indeed, Last Day Of Sun is the first day in a new era for Fuming Mouth. Back from the abyss, Whelan and co. sound unstoppable.
