“Rest in piss.“
With nothing left to prove following 2021’s excellent The Grand Descent, Last Day of Sun is a deliberate left turn for Fuming Mouth. Its story is intertwined with singer, guitarist and founder Mark Whelan’s leukaemia diagnosis and subsequent fight for life. As such, this is Fuming Mouth saying “fuck it”, as their ambitions ride high, resulting in a memorable record and fascinating chapter in their story.
Beginning this review with what Fuming Mouth are known for, Last Day of Sun features many achievements in hardcore-death metal. What’s new is that these songs are a bit longer, using this format to recur themes for greater impact. Take “Out of Time”, the six-plus minute opener that takes every diversion it can, and is worth all your patience as the band smashes out satisfying riffs, choruses, solos and breakdowns. “I’ll Find You” and “Burial Practices” are the shortest tracks, harking back to The Grand Descent’s intensity. The swaggering near-breakdown choruses are back, and can be found on tracks like “Respect and Blasphemy”. I have to give a nod to the hilarious “Disgusterlude”, a queasy interlude that must have been a fun day in the studio.
There are several unexpected moments on the record which have already generated a lot of discussion. The single “The Silence Beyond Life” boasts a clean chorus, to my knowledge, the first in Fuming Mouth history. I’ve rolled my eyes at many comments on this song, and I will say that it’s not bad, particularly in the second verse and false end at the bridge. It just doesn’t play to Fuming Mouth’s strengths; it’s not what you come to the show for, but it’s clear the band didn’t want to go down without making a silly, catchy track like this. Besides, if it’s not obvious, watch the video and tell me the track shouldn’t be taken in jest.
The record doesn’t revisit the clean vocals again, at least not in the same way. When it does I think even the suspicious will find the result much improved. “Leaving Euphoria” is the other major track with clean vocals, using them build an atmosphere of unease. Meanwhile, the closer “Postfigurement” is as rough as any Fuming Mouth song, but is backed by haunting vocals and takes a melodic turn for its ending, becoming one of their best songs.
Initial drafts of Last Day of Sun pitched it as a concept album, perhaps explaining some of the aforementioned musical excursions. Whelan’s leukaemia diagnosis changed much, including the record’s direction. Allegedly, much of this concept survives, but it’s hard to read these lyrics as anything but the words of a man staring down his own end. “Kill the Disease” is the most direct: “Fight back / Kill the disease / Fight back / Kill the disease” and “Kill or be killed”, screamed with energy that could open graves itself. Elsewhere, the diagnosis has led to some more belt-worthy lyrics: “I am out of time” are the first lines on the opener, or “Last day of sun for the rest of my life” on “Last Day of Sun”. Amongst these refutations of death, there are some more classic lines that will have you punching the air, or worse. Just take “Rest in Piss”: “Say goodbye / Rest in shit / Sent to hell / Rest in piss”. Nails.
There are so many brilliant moments on here that you’d miss if you were dissuaded by the cleans on the single “The Silence Beyond Life”. Honestly, the worst of this release might be the fact that old fanboys will probably never shut up about the clean singing, taking up about 2% of the record which is otherwise an absolute slaughter-fest. The production is a treat, as to be expected from the Kurt Ballou treatment. The only shame is that the late Mariusz Lewandowski could not contribute the cover artwork – for the uninitiated, see their previous record The Grand Descent, or Bell Witch’s Mirror Reaper and Mizmor’s Cairn to understand Lewandowski‘s influence on modern extreme metal visuals. Stefan Todorovic’s piece is a majestic tribute, rounding out a solid record from Fuming Mouth.
8/10
Last Day of Sun drops this Friday 3rd November. You can pre-order the record here.