Mourning Beloveth 'A Disease for the Ages'

I still remember the time when Mourning Beloveth released their first demo and, for that matter, their second "Autumnal Fires". Neither were up to much to be honest. So when their debut "Dust" arrived in late 2000, I was shocked and slightly awed at the progression - on all levels - the band had made. In fact, coming not so long after My Dying Bride's "The Light At The End Of The World" (which many people referred to as a return to form after the criminally overlooked "34.788%...Complete" album and the band to which Mourning Beloveth have received most comparison), I was further shocked to realise that I had more time and interest in MB over MDB when both had their latest works toe to toe in the ring. That My Dying Bride's work at that time was a (in my view) transparent about turn, tail between legs, to more acceptable waters made the sheer sincerity and undiluted zeal of the Mourning Beloveth debut all the more appealing. The upward trend continued until 2005's "A Murderous Circus", where they levelled out or even dropped the ball slightly, so I was curious and apprehensive when I found my hands on this, their fourth release. Incidentally, the first to feature new guy Brendan Roche on bass after the departure of semi-legend Adrian Butler (now running Lugga Music from his new home in Spain) and their second for the Grau label. Well, the My Dying Bride comparisons will not end.....simply because people need a reference point and whilst this is, again, heavily treading in the lands founded primarily by MDB - the harsh atmospherics, long building Doom..Death voyages, deep evocative lyricism's. Let me point out further that The Bride have not touched on anything as effective as this since their last visit to the upper reaches of the Richter scale back in 2002. I make this point simply because you WILL see the comparisons continue. Just as Behemoth got constantly compared to Morbid Angel on their journey to the top. Sure, you see the obvious comparisons and appreciate the need to give reference points, but you know that it just ain't the same. White and cream? Blue and turquoise? Reference points. To the music then? Well, this is Mourning Beloveth at the absolute top of their game thus far. No doubt, for me! To craft an album with songs between the 9 minute and the 13 minute mark without making you glance at your watch constantly is no mean feat in itself. Opener "The Sickness" is masterful, three or four listens in that is. At first it sounds like MB by numbers, but then slowly it creeps in. That riff to which all swells around in itself warrants repeat listens.....the brief appearance vocalist from Francis Brennan is something, this guy is a singer not to be ignored. Comparisons to the role of Simen 'Vortex' in Dimmu are very justified. Two who both kill in the higher range and make all too brief visits to the mic stand with devastating results. However the real winner is the phrasing of main vocalist Darren Moore, for whatever reason it lifts the song right into the premier league. The album continues in this vein. Each track breathing independently from the other and each easily setting identity enough to ensure that the album stands both as an entity of 5 songs and as individual pieces. Dynamics are often an area that I feel become neglected for bands who would swim in the same waters as Mourning Beloveth. A 13 minute dirge will either need to be something otherworldly or need a listener who is a devotee of the genre in general to really strike home. For the most part. Since their debut I have felt that Mourning Beloveth have understood and harnessed this, to their ultimate advantage. Witness "Primeval Rush", just as fellow Irishmen Primordial have had the advantage of a song that can be an anthem on a particular release, so too have these guys here. It stays faithful to the (sometimes) rigid blueprint of their field and yet adds something for the fist bangers without ever coming near to being kitsch or pandering for the lowest common denomenator. What more can I say? make these guys rich and famous.

5/6