Album Review: Hellmouth - Gravestone Skylines

Hellmouth is one of those bands you’ll either love of hate. And no, there is no thin line between the two in this case. Hailing from Detroit, this band mixes late 80’s hardcore with a bit of early punk to make a ferocious thrash record, which will leave any metalhead with a sore neck. Featuring Jay Navarro, previous frontman of The Suicide Machines, there is definitely talent within this band, but sometimes it’s hard to hear over the unrelenting riffs and fierce breakdowns.

'Funeral Drenched' starts slow and atmospheric, but it's not long before the hardcore/punk influence makes itself known. The vocals are harsh and full of vitriol, and straight from the off it's not something for the faint of heart. This carries on straight into 'Desperate and Violent', which features original breakdowns and guitar riffs that will melt your ears. However, the track is ruined by the offbeat singing in the verses, which just makes the song sound very amateur.

The short but not so sweet 'Hands Like Spiders' is a brutal thrash attack on the ears, and to be perfectly honest has a lot of the same characteristics as white noise. It's a massive contrast to how 'The Sun Is Dying' starts, which sounds like a slightly edgier version of Gallows. It's far more structured and one of the better songs on the album.

Any fans of Hatebreed might appreciate the track ‘Tragedy Of A City’, which features some glorious breakdowns, fantastic vocals and is a standout track on the album. It’s not quite as heavy as some of the other tracks but could almost be called catchy anyway. ‘The Calling – Part one’ features much harsher vocals over a very punk influenced melody. For the first half anyway. The second part of the song sees a change of pace for Hellmouth, and even features a piano. I can’t quite work out why though, especially seeing as the next track, ‘The Calling – Part two’ reverts back to their normal sound. The final track, ‘Vultures and Crows’, is yet more unrelenting thrash, and by this point it does begin to sound very samey. There’s nothing to differentiate it from the previous tracks and you won’t miss it when it’s over.

If you’re after something really meaty to chew on, or something that will blow the skin off your face, then you’ll probably like this album. But for anybody else, it’s just a big noise that goes on for too long. Hellmouth aren’t bad at what they do and do have some promising moments, but there isn’t anything career defining about this album. The tracks all blend into one eventually and just provides a wall of noise. It definitely wont be some people’s cup of tea.

2.5/5

'Gravestone Skyline' by Hellmouth is available now through Paper + Plastick.

Hellmouth on MySpace, Twitter and Facebook.

Blaise Ruston