Written by Carcassbomb
MouthBreather – I’m Sorry Mr. Salesman
Experimental hardcore from Boston, USA
Released August 13th, 2021
Via Good Fight Music
9/10
CHAOS AROUND ME, CHAOS AROUND ME.
Hardcore in recent times has become heavily centred around being constantly technical and memey. This new album from MouthBreather takes us back to the more barbaric style of “what if noise guitars and blast beats while person yells at the world about some shit they’ve seen?” with a few nice techniques and production touches thrown in to really make it pop. I’m Sorry Mr. Salesman is easily the bands longest and most accomplished release to date. I’ve been listening on repeat all morning and my brains have become all but shit.
I was quite into their previous work Dollmeat in 2018, I greatly appreciated their loose and psychotic sound, which is back but tighter now. This album is so coherent. I’m not even going to bring up dissonance in this review. If you’re listening to metallic hardcore these days, you know what’s going on in terms of distortion. Accompanying the usual fucked up noises of the guitar and bass feedback is some occasional electronic elements and other experimental factors that go into the sound very well, as can be heard clearly on the track “Deems”. A track that also has an infectious guitar melody that stands out every listen through.
This is a fun album for the fans of both drum and bass as they get a workout with some fantastic moments across the album. The drums are weighty and wet, creating a slammy kind of CHOPCHOPCHOP sound (I am not a drummer). The bass gets ridiculously low and somehow plays a strong role in the groove and noise simultaneously. The bassline in “Why Am I In Hospital?” Is a massive highlight from the album. Although I’ll admit, a lot of the time I cannot separate the bass, the low guitar notes and the controlled feedback. It’s like a warm sea of fuzzy bullshit made all the more powerful by the dark presence of the vocalist and serious subject matter.
I’m always fading
It’s only getting worse
Now my hands are blistered and clutching
Tapeworms writhing in a pipe burning
– Tension Underbite
It’s hard not to make this review a track by track because there is noteworthy moments on each track and they are different with each new track. Like the Buckethead/Les Claypool level of clean guitar shredding in “I Leave” that totally caught me off guard. On other tracks you’ll find unique vocal accentuations that aren’t repeated elsewhere. They’ve clearly set out to make an album with carefully considered tracks that not only flow together well but can also be picked out at random as singles. My favourite on every level, is “Tension Underbite” which I’ve quoted once at the top of the review and again just above this paragraph. It’s got everything I like about this album in one hectic track.
I love the vocals, they’re a more old school strained shouting type of vocal that breaks into screams or growls to emphasise key heavy as fuck moments. The overall tone is always clean enough to make out the lyrics comprising of satisfying rhymes and hard hitting one liners – often bringing about that nu metal adjacent sound I’ve been really digging in a lot of modern hardcore like Vein. While I’m making comparisons, let’s throw out my favorite hardcore band featuring Jon Mess and say I’m very much enjoying the similarities between MouthBreather and Secret Band. It’s a spicy assault that is memorable through and through.
Don’t overlook this one, it’s a fucking hoot.
9/10
Be the first to comment