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Mourning Beloveth 'A Murderous Circus'
Mourning Beloveth have rightly been gaining plaudits left right and centre
in the last three years thanks to their two unequivocally brilliant albums,
not to mention a decade's hard work before that, taking in one demo in
particular that is remembered fondly on an international scale. Much live
work has also gone into making this band one of Ireland's few premier
metallic exports, and in that respect a new album from these malcontents
means alot for the country as a whole, and not just the band themselves.
With all this ground having been so painstakingly laid over the last while,
and with two eminent successes previous to this, Mourning Beloveth can
almost afford to step back a bit at this stage of the game. It certainly
seems that that is what they have done, because after more spins than
is
probably healthy, I'm still not entirely sure that this is the Mourning
Beloveth I've grown used to hearing, and represents probably the most
theyve
diverged from their own norm in their career.
Perhaps we were spoiled with "The Sullen Sulcus". Indulged
too much,
perhaps, with the finest the band could give us; because bizarrely, "A
Murderous Circus" seems to have almost gone to pains to remove the
chief
elements that made TSS such a classy and well rounded album. Guitar
harmonies, that bastion of drawn out Doom melody, are non existent, with
both guitars (to my ears) mirroring each other rather than working off
each
other. This lack of harmony really has left a dent in what one could have
considered to be a principle strength of the band, and something that
has
been a sizable lietmotif of theirs. The more one listens however, the
more
it perhaps becomes apparent why they've gone for a very simple and direct
approach this time. The unremitting simplicity of this material and its
sparser delivery make the bleakness almost intolerable, which ultimately
is
the reason this band is as good as it is: there arent many that can evoke
such tangible misery you almost need to turn it off.
The same can be noted of Frank Brennan's lamemnting clean vocals, which
were
without contradiction the overriding factor in giving this already great
band's last album that elusive x-factor, and that surpassing finesse.
Perhaps we were indeed over indulged last time round, but it takes until
well past the half way point for them to even appear this time, which
I
personally feel something of a shame given how brilliant the interplay
is
between the guttural bellow and impassioned singing. On that note however,
Darren has been at pains to achieve numerous shades and timbres within
his
own range. Spoken, whispered, yelled, cried or bellowed, this cd has an
impressive arsenal of vocal styles, and uses them to maximum effect. It
is
sterling Doom Metal, but stripped very bare, and the exposure is a little
bit of a shock. With repeat playing the complete, total and utter dejection
of this slab becomes clear, and I suspect that's why they've done it.
That
is a victory in as much as the band are spreading their despondency more
unpalatably and uncompromisingly than in the past. But I must be honest
and
say that at heart I feel the sheer class of "The Sullen Sulcus"s
layering
and interplay resulted in a better album, and when it comes to the cruch,
I
prefer it. This is not a crticism of "A Murderous Circus". It
is simply
different. What it remains however is Doom of an impeccable pedigree,
with a
newfound directness and hypnotic insistence.
3.7 / 5 - Ciaran Tracey ::: 27/02/05
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