Mourning
Beloveth 'The Sullen Sulcus'
Maybe it's a little unfair, but when I buy albums I am just a bit more
uptight on the quality than if I get them for free, as they are then more
inclined to be slaughtered, so to say. The Mourning Beloveth album I have
seen many glorious reviews of, and after numerous inquiries to Haavard,
I
had to give up and buy it, hehe.
Mourning Beloveth is from Ireland, and I guess you can't say that the
Irish
scene is crowded with bands, atleast not bands that has reached beyond
its
borders. But I can say that of the bands I have heard from Ireland, they
are
totally great, in this case both Primordial and Mourning Beloveth.
The Sullen Sulcus is their second album and the first on the Norwegian
label
Aftermath Music. Jeg reckon most readers of metal-norge knows already
about
that company.
Mourning Beloveth play their Doom just the way I like it - heavy, well
produced, melodious, atmospheric and not too funeral-like. Actually the
most
comparable would be to put them up against My Dying Bride, if we drop
the
synth, make them a bit harder and add Mourning Beloveth's distinction
- the
dry great sound.
The opener, The Words That Crawled is the most easy song to get into.
What
shines through on this track is the dry clear sound that makes a difference
on the whole album. The production is really top-notch here, everything
is
as it should be, and the vocals rasping and enormous. Even though the
boss
himself claimed the Words That Crawled was a hittrack immidiatly, I have
to
disagree (although I can hear it is most accessible). For my part the
2nd
track, It Almost Looked Human stands out - as it is on this one vocalist
Darren sets in his great clean vocals. Okey, you might get some of that
also
on the 13 minute long opening track, but that I identify as mostly talking,
backed up with a choir.
Anyway, it's not far into the album that the really fine gitarmelodies
appear, The Insolent Caul and Narcississtic Funeral for example.
There are no directly weak tracks here, since they all are so damn long,
the
album goes for over one hour with it's 6 tracks... Some parts might seem
a
but long-dragging, maybe a bit repetative.
Mourning Beloveth has anyway made a really fine album here, with some
really
crushing songs, and there is no doubt about that this band will reach
far. I
look forward to see if they can top this one!
8 / 10
|