Written by Jennifer Moglia
Last week on November 20th, 2020, Massachusetts hardcore band Fuming Mouth released “Beyond the Tomb”, a three-track EP. This serves as a follow-up to their debut full-length “The Grand Descent” which was released last year in 2019.
Despite its length, this EP instantly became one of my favorite releases of this year. A band’s ability to deliver in a short amount of time is something that I can definitely appreciate, and the amount of content packed into just 12 minutes here is absolutely insane.
“Beyond the Tomb” opens with its titular track, clocking in at just under five minutes long. This one draws you in from the beginning with soaring guitar riffs and stellar vocal delivery throughout; the transitions between classic hardcore and more melodic sections are absolutely seamless.
Up next is “Master of Extremity”, which was initially released as a single shortly before the entire EP was available. This track is super atmospheric, a common theme throughout the album, taking you into a completely different world when you listen to it, much like other hardcore releases this year like Code Orange’s “Underneath” and Drain’s “California Cursed.”
This release closes with “Road to Odessa”, the shortest and probably slowest track in terms of pacing, although neither factor hurts the song at all. The decelerated tempo allows each element of the track to be fully appreciated, with the percussion especially getting my attention here.
As a whole, “Beyond the Tomb” is an all-consuming sucker punch of an EP, doing more in just over ten minutes than some bands can do in an hour or longer. As “year-end list season” rolls around, I hope that this is given the attention it deserves as one of the most consistent, cohesive releases in hardcore and in general this year.
“Beyond the Tomb” is available to stream wherever you listen to music, and you can support Fuming Mouth by following them on Twitter @FumingMouth and picking up some merch. If you listened to this record, let us know what you think by tweeting us @lgndsoftmrw!