An age-old challenge for critical houses like ours is that, while they simultaneously represent a cohesive vision, each editor should have their own unique voice. As time passes, writers come to AMG and go like so much beef through a meat grinder. All this faffing about to say, we have vastly different opinions, and as senior writers drop bands, new blood comes in to offer a fresh perspective. To this end, our Dear Hollow did not have a glowing opinion of Fuming Mouth’s previous album, Last Day of Sun. For me, it was one of my favorite albums that year and a record I spin frequently to this day. It was a conceptual cavalcade of crushing riffage, emotional asides, and Radiohead-esque interludes all wrapped in the blanket of melancholy that is surviving cancer. Mark Whelan’s epic battle with the dreaded disease inspired their best work, and represented a band at their most powerful, driven, and potent. With their latest, The Ringing Bell, does this inspiration give their latest life? Or are we calling the pallbearers?
If Last Day of Sun was the atmospheric slow-burner, The Ringing Bell is the bludgeoning, neanderthal club. Fuming Mouth’s patented brand of death-infused hardcore in the vein of bands like Gatecreeper, Creeping Death, and Venom Prison is alive and well on their latest record. A more direct analogue to their initial release, The Grand Descent, their latest is efficient, brutal as hell, and full of a downright stupid amount of knuckledraggery. Mark Whelan remains the star of the show with his absurd number of chunky grooves and cragged riffs that fill the record, as well as his Nails-inspired vocals with their trademark frothiness and fuzz. His cleans (while only appearing on a single track this time) remain ethereal, forlorn, and spacious, making the title track an absolute highlight; melding a potent concoction of hardcore death with atmospheric cleans. Jay Weinberg (yes, previously of Slipknot fame) is the newest member, and his style and taste seem much more suited to an act as natural-sounding and raw as Fuming Mouth. His rhythmic drumming, rollicking fills, and snare abuse are more at home within hardcore than the chaotic nu-metal of Slipknot.
The Ringing Bell by Fuming Mouth
For those who felt Last Day of Sun was a letdown, The Ringing Bell will surely please you. There is no shortage of bulldozing riffs, explosive vocals, and blistering drumming. Tracks like “Self-Exhumed”, “Barbian Scourge”, and “Respect Mortality” are sure to topple crowds and maim concertgoers at Fuming Mouth’s next show. Mark Whelen’s divisive clean singing is all but cut from the record, and the album comes in at a slim thirty-four minutes. For many, it will be the antidote to Last Day of Sun. For me, while still a strong record in its own right, I couldn’t help but feel let down by The Ringing Bell. Gone is much of the creativity, replaced by simplified lyrics that feel downright silly at times and a detrimental dedication to destruction. The album bleeds together, and I felt myself hoping and waiting for songs as creative as “The Silence Beyond Life”, “Leaving Euphoria”, and “Postfigurement”. It was a genuine relief when the title track came on and held hints of what made Last Day of Sun so damn affecting to me even to this day.
The Ringing Bell is solid, well played, full of great moments, and genuinely heartfelt in its execution. The production is spot-on with the perfect amount of raw grit and depth, letting the hardcore hit and the death disturb. Kurt Ballou’s mixing is on point as always. Despite these positives, I found the record disappointingly shallow compared to their last album. Song after song follows the same themes of fighting back and positivity in the face of adversity to the point of silliness. I appreciate the message, and it is especially rare in the genre, but it feels childish juxtaposed with the lyricism and emotion of Last Day of Sun.
The Ringing Bell is a tale of two tastes. Those who loved their previous record may find it lacking, especially compared to contemporaries like Gatecreeper’s Dark Superstition or Tribal Gaze’s Inveighing Brilliance. But if you hated Last Day of Sun, The Ringing Bell is here to resurrect your love of Fuming Mouth. Either way, it is a solid record, but whether or not it is truly great depends on your taste for all-out destruction versus the more thoughtful musings of their previous work.
Rating: Good
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Triple B Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Official Site
Releases Worldwide: July 17th, 2026
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