After nine years and hundreds of reviews, I find myself more and
\nmore seeking out challenges.<\/p>\n
Case in point: I’m not a religious guy. Spiritual, yes;
\nreligious, no. There’s been too much intolerance and destruction
\nwaged “in the name of God” for me to put my faith in any human
\nbeing’s interpretation of the sacred. All of which makes the
\nfrankly evangelical Christian hard rock trio Mouthpiece a challenge
\nfor me to review.<\/p>\n
It’s one I’m up for, though, in large part because Devin
\nWilliams, the singer\/songwriter\/guitarist\/producer\/mastermind
\nbehind Mouthpiece, is clearly a talented guy. His sound could be
\ndescribed as Creed squared — a similar combination of fat guitar
\ncrunch, urgent melodies and spiritually-tinged lyrics, but with
\nsubstantially heavier music and more overtly religious lyrics.
\nListening to this disc, I was impressed with how well this
\ncombination works — faith is an intense, emotional subject that
\nmatches up surprisingly well with throbbing hard rock.<\/p>\n
The intensity of numbers like “Coming Home” and the dynamic
\nopener “The Rok” may in fact catch CCM listeners off guard.
\nWilliams may be preaching the gospel, but the dude still manages to
\nrock pretty formidably. The Creed parallel becomes clearer on more
\npower-ballad-y numbers like “Kiss The Son” (get it?), but far from
\ndominating the album, slower cuts are the exception. More typical
\nare muscular tracks like “Standing So Close” and the hammering
\ncloser “Can You Feel.”<\/p>\n
I can’t properly call myself a fan of Mouthpiece — these songs
\nare too relentlessly evangelical in perspective for my tastes —
\nbut I have a lot of respect for the quality and artistry of the
\nmusic, which is consistently powerful and well-crafted. Special
\nkudos to Williams and Chuck Butler on the production side, as this
\ndisc features a crystal-clean sound that amplifies the potency of
\nWilliams’ huge riffs.<\/p>\n
Bottom line? Devin Williams is a very talented guitarist and
\nsinger, and
\nWhere Do I Begin?<\/i> is a dynamic, entertaining entree of hard
\nrock, with an extra-large side of New Testament. The lyrics might
\nnot have been my thing, but I sure didn’t suffer while cranking
\nthis disc up loud.<\/p>\n