Forrest Cook
Hardcore Notables Mouth Breather Release New Music For The First Time In Five Years For A Terse Albeit Raucous New EP, Welcome To Hellmouth.
Welcome to Song of the Day, where we hip you to all the new local releases you should be caring about. By highlighting one new North Texas-sprung tune every week day, our hope is that you’ll find something new to love about the rich and abundant DFW music scene five days a week.
Mouth Breather – “Zero Sum”
RIYL: Killing time instead of people.
What Else You Should Know: The “gentle and kind grindviolence” Mouth Breather tribe hadn’t graced us with new music in five years to the day of their September 14 release, Welcome To Hellmouth.
Opening the EP is “Zero Sum”, which serves as a scathing-hot dive into the onslaught of aggravated sludge ridden music that follows it. Murderously heavy vocals are delivered through the band’s “mouth”, in vocalist Hunter’s feverishness and rehashed with energy that would leave uninitiated metal patrons asking themselves whether or not he’s singing in erratic satanic worship.
The detuned guitars of members Ash and Elliott coalesce in blistering swells, while Ricky’s psychosomatic drum beats bolster power-violence breakdowns, provide the perfect blend for mosh-heads seeking a post-pandemic release once live music returns.
The track opens with a recording of a child that has become a viral “sound” on TikTok for what that amounts to interesting quips and a few arrangement surprises on the rest of Welcome to Hellmouth — this is the kind of release to consume all the way thorough upon first listen. Welcome To Hellmouth clocks in at six songs with a total runtime of just under 10 and a half minutes, and is available on cassette tape through Baby Rakin Records, Salsa Verde Fanzine and No Time Records.
“Zero Sum” is a track that may help set the tempo for the grievances of the days to come.