Word of Mouth

This being the only Vicious Rumors material I have heard thus far, I couldn’t tell how this compares to the rest of their rather voluminous catalog, meaning this review will be based solely on the merits (or lack thereof) of the band's fifth official full-length studio release. I wish I could continue by typing something along the lines of “and what a fine release it is indeed,” but that would require stretching the boundaries of truth. While these veteran American power metallers deserve some props for staying true to themselves and continuing to put out music that had gone completely out of style by the time this was published – if possible even more so in the States than in the rest of the world –, such favorable considerations cannot hide the fact that Word of Mouth is decidedly more bark than bite, a collection of tracks that are mostly way too groovy and experimental for their own good and hardly ever go for the jugular in a manner befitting American-style power metal. It is thus hardly surprising that the best songs on here are the ones that steer clear of any overt “progressive” leanings and focus on pummeling the listener with some vintage aggression.

But let’s get to the bottom of the barrel first: “Thinking of You” is easily the worst of the bunch, slowly chugging along and displaying an all too obvious lack of imagination – the stale groove-oriented main riff is repeated ad nauseam throughout the song, the distorted vocals sound absolutely horrible (what’s the point of resorting to such gimmickry when you have a singer as gifted as Carl Albert fronting the band?), the alternative-tinged chorus is repetitive and dull, there are no tempo changes or any other redeeming values to make this song even remotely exciting. This is the low point of the album, a track that just barely qualifies as tolerable and a rather irritating slip-up for a band as talented as Vicious Rumors. It almost seems as if they were hell-bent on making a song that’s as modern-sounding as possible (well, what was “modern” at the time anyway), and accordingly the end result comes across as forced and constructed.

Luckily, “Thinking of You” is the closest thing to a real dud whereas the remaining songs range from moderate to quite outstanding. The mediocre ones are mainly plagued by too many acoustic overtones to go along with a distinct lack of stirring riffs and, most of all, speed. Tracks like “The Voice,” which at least features a memorable chorus that fully showcases Carl Albert’s vocal talents, “Thunder and Rain Pt. 1” and “Dreaming” are all ballads or semi-ballads that don’t hurt but ultimately don’t achieve much either. In the bluntest of terms, these songs make for pleasant background music, keeping a low profile and soothing the listener with a few nice melodies but seldom demanding his full attention. While being perfectly arranged and executed technically, these tracks are rather dull, which is a damning verdict when it comes to heavy metal. “Thunder and Rain Pt.2”, “No Fate” and “Building #6” aren’t exactly world class either, but they are clearly above the ones just mentioned. The first could be outstanding if it weren't for the mellow acoustic guitars robbing it of much of its energy, and the other two deliver some pretty aggressive riff-driven power metal. It’s not like I generally despise acoustic guitars, but particularly “Thunder and Rain Pt. 2” suffers because of them – it could have turned out amazing had the band decided to keep shredding away from start to finish, but after the entirely undistorted “Thunder and Rain Pt. 1” it just feels like more of the same.

However, as maddeningly inconsistent as Word of Mouth mostly tends to be, it contains some pretty amazing tracks as well, meaning that when the album is on, it's really on. “Sense of Security” is clearly the cream of the crop, an outright spectacular speed metal tune that never slows down, displaying all the traits of a classic – furious drumming, scorching riffs, energetic vocals, heartfelt outlaw lyrics, high-flying solos and, on top of it all, a soaring chorus. In fact, this song is so good that it alone improves the album’s overall rating by roughly 10 points. The album closer “Ministry of Fear,” which is followed by a perfectly skip-worthy acoustic (of course) outro, delivers more of the same – it’s another blazing speedster that takes a while to get going but doesn’t look back once the long-winded intro is over. Particularly the ripping chorus section is pure thrash metal, bringing some much-needed aggression that this album could have used plenty more of. The catchy opener “Against the Grain” and particularly the stomping, riff-heavy “All Rights Reserved,” though both noticeably slower, aren't short on aggression either and have some nice lyrics and vocals going for them as well. It’s safe to say that this record would grade out a lot worse if it weren’t for the amazing performance of Mr. Carl Albert, whose masterful vocals are very charismatic and delivered with plenty of attitude.

In conclusion, this is an extremely mixed bag featuring a few excellent cuts along with lots of filler material that suffers from being too experimental and laid back with way too many acoustic guitar passages. The high-end production, although it's not quite perfect, does help some but of course cannot mask the various deficiencies in the songwriting department. Moreover, the case could be made that the drums are a little too high in the mix and the guitar tone tends to be a little muddy. Word of Mouth may be worth getting if you can pick it up on the cheap, but it’s certainly far from mandatory.

Choicest cuts: Against the Grain, All Rights Reserved, Sense of Security, Ministry of Fear