Published on Dec 9, 2005
After nine years and hundreds of reviews, I find myself more and
more seeking out challenges.
Case in point: I’m not a religious guy. Spiritual, yes;
religious, no. There’s been too much intolerance and destruction
waged “in the name of God” for me to put my faith in any human
being’s interpretation of the sacred. All of which makes the
frankly evangelical Christian hard rock trio Mouthpiece a challenge
for me to review.
It’s one I’m up for, though, in large part because Devin
Williams, the singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer/mastermind
behind Mouthpiece, is clearly a talented guy. His sound could be
described as Creed squared — a similar combination of fat guitar
crunch, urgent melodies and spiritually-tinged lyrics, but with
substantially heavier music and more overtly religious lyrics.
Listening to this disc, I was impressed with how well this
combination works — faith is an intense, emotional subject that
matches up surprisingly well with throbbing hard rock.
The intensity of numbers like “Coming Home” and the dynamic
opener “The Rok” may in fact catch CCM listeners off guard.
Williams may be preaching the gospel, but the dude still manages to
rock pretty formidably. The Creed parallel becomes clearer on more
power-ballad-y numbers like “Kiss The Son” (get it?), but far from
dominating the album, slower cuts are the exception. More typical
are muscular tracks like “Standing So Close” and the hammering
closer “Can You Feel.”
I can’t properly call myself a fan of Mouthpiece — these songs
are too relentlessly evangelical in perspective for my tastes —
but I have a lot of respect for the quality and artistry of the
music, which is consistently powerful and well-crafted. Special
kudos to Williams and Chuck Butler on the production side, as this
disc features a crystal-clean sound that amplifies the potency of
Williams’ huge riffs.
Bottom line? Devin Williams is a very talented guitarist and
singer, and
Where Do I Begin? is a dynamic, entertaining entree of hard
rock, with an extra-large side of New Testament. The lyrics might
not have been my thing, but I sure didn’t suffer while cranking
this disc up loud.
[For more information, visit
www.mouthpieceonline.net]