| The Dawning of Mournful Hymns (CD) | 2002 | Weird Truth |
The Australian Mournful Congregation combines the mournful 'feel' of early MDB with the self-willed, dissonant and bleak nihilism of Thergothon. Slow, endlessly drifting twin guitar (dys)harmonies, pounding drums and an impressively deep, yet suprisingly well-articulated grunt seem to be involved in a game without rules, meaning or purpose. Here it is where the terms 'song structure' and 'order' lose their significance. Monotonous, agonizing slow, disillusioned and hopeless, this music seems to have lost the will to ease the pain in the heart of the listener. The occational clean guitar intermezzi fail to change this desolate picture. In contrary, their repetitive, dissonant themes add even more pain making the experience almost unbearable. This is food for the doom freaks, those who know what suffering means and who at the same time have lost interest in the 'beauty' of lush symphonic arrangements, angelic female vocals and bittersweet melodies. The pain is deep and heart-felt, but there is no will left to protest against this inhuman torture. Apathy, emptiness and solitude are all that remain.
The tracks that stick out, are the colossal 'fading light of a dying sun', 'Astralic dreams', 'Suffer the storms', 'The epitome of gods and men alike' and 'An epic dream of desire'. Especially that last track drains every joy of the listener's soul with its heart shredding guitar harmonies, the whispered vocals which sound like a last goodbye to a deceased dear friend, its epic length of 15 minutes and its moving lyrics:
"We look to the clouds for they form epic pictures…The earth stands still, the air is silent/We all dream together, yet we are all alone…the clouds hold the answers, yet still we search"
We gather netherlands and together with the Mournful Congregation we continue our search hoping to find a meaning someday…
1. Fading light of a dying sun
2. Astralic dreams
3. Weeping
4. Suffer the storms
5. Heads bowed
6. Miriam
7. An epic dream of desire
8. Skyward gaze, earthward touch
9. Re-memberance of the transcending moon
10. Empirical choirs
11. Tears from a grieving heart
12. Opal of the stream beneath the hills
13. Elemental
14. The epitome of gods and men alike
Approx. 126 minutes
| Mournful Congregation / Worship Split (7") | 2002 | Painiac Records |
Musically, the band has taken a bit of a different approach than in the past. Instead of going for their former sound, an ultra-slow and utterly depressing mix of old My Dying Bride and Thergothon, they chose to make a more melodic song, with an emphasis on the lead guitars. The result is a very honest, emotional track that puts many other melodic doom bands to shame. This one goes straight to the heart and if this song is any indication for the upcoming works of the band, 2004 is going to be the year of the comeback of Mournful Congregation.
And now for the older work. While Worship's songs on the classic Last Vinyl Before Doomsday are very minimalistic, the songs on their three 7” releases have a more full-bodied sound. According to Daniel this is largely Max’ influence, who put a bit more aggression into these songs, where the ones on the LP were more depressive. As such, ‘Let There Be Doom…’ is a bit different from the material on the full length. The song is more monotonous, the presence of the drums is greater and the tempo is more constant. Besides those differences, this is the same unrelenting and dark ultra-doom the band is famous for. The name says it all…
Fans of either of the bands will gobble this stuff up, but sadly this limited to 500 release sold out some time ago. Desperate people can always try and contact Painiac records though, and maybe get lucky. For those not so lucky some substitute can be found in the other releases of these great bands, which are more widely available.
In short, this is high quality extreme doom for those who love theirs served raw, cold, empty, depressive, and so on…
Before even dreams were dreamt of
There existed misery...
Mournful Congregation:
1. The Epitome Of Gods And Men Alike
Worship:
2. Let There Be Doom...
Approx. 17 minutes
| Mournful Congregation / Stabat Mater Split (7") | 2004 | Painiac Records |
Mournful Congregation celebrates a decade of Doom this year and this will be accompanied by an all new full length later this year. Luckily, we get a bit of a teaser in the form of 'A Slow March To The Burial' on this excellent new split 7".
I think it is safe to say that although the song lacks a bit of the epic feel that was present on the last two releases, it is the most solid effort by the band to date. 'A Slow March To The Burial' is just that, and yet so much more. The listener is swept away instantly and sees, feels and exists through the lyrical boy at his father's funeral. The impressionistic lyrics and translation of experience to music form one captivating whole that plods along at the metaphorical funeral pace. It has quickly become one of Doom Metal's clichés, but rarely have I heard it executed so simple, yet so well. After hearing this one can only be anxious for 'The Monad of Creation', which will see the dark of night later as the Earth drags its course around the accursed sun...
And now… Stabat Mater are a bit of an enigma still. Little information can be found on the net about these Finnish doom mongers, and their work has been thus far released through splits with other bands (this one and the one with Worship). Perhaps this will change in the future, but at the moment things are a bit vague.
The music speaks for itself though. Where their previous song 'Give them pain' was a little disturbing because of the samples of ladies in a tight situation involving whips, this song is more basic. Slow doom with grunts, riffs and sporadic leads make up 'Gates' which at first seems a bit boring, but manages to engrave itself in your mind so that it becomes a very mellow, pleasing track to listen to. Quite the opposite of its predecessor, I must say, but interesting nonetheless. In short, nothing quite remarkable, but I have a suspicion that Stabat Mater will be able to surprise us sometime in the future with a new trick up their sleeve. As a side note, I just have to mention the oneliners that Painiac engraves into each of its releases. Look for them in the center of your record. This one has:
"The tagedy of man is…what dies inside himself while he still lives." A great touch!
Mournful Congregation:
1. A Slow March To The Burial
Stabat Mater:
2. Gates
Approx. 14 minutes
| The Monad of Creation (CD/2LP) | 2005 | Weird Truth / Painiac |
The Album contains four tracks, together clocking over 60 minutes, written between 1994 and 2003. The majority of the tracks are from the previous millennium, which means that the songs are more reminiscent of the material on 'Tears From A Grieving Heart' than their recent split with Stabat Mater.
I can characterise this album as having a feel similar to the last album, but with a vastly higher quality. To begin with, the musicianship has improved considerably. Older tracks sometimes had a little off-beat playing, some out-of-tune acoustics here and there, that sort of thing. Nothing disastrous in itself, but these elements are now completely absent. To top it off, the production is crisp, and it has a great bass-heavy overtone.
But, right now, I'll stop dispensing the more mundane information, as this masterpiece - and that it is - deserves a much more in-depth treatment.
'Mother - Water, The Great Sea Wept' is the first stage, and a true musical epic. A long track even for doom (over 18 minutes) it showcases a recognisable Mournful Congregation sound, great riffs and melodies, and wonderful lyrics, with parts taken from Homer's 'Iliad' and H.M. Blavatsky's 'The Book of Dzyan'. It's about the Sea and Moon, and trying to visualise them while the music crashes like waves upon your shores isn't that difficult.
Up next is 'As I Drown In Loveless Rain', lyrically a more 'traditional' piece about a love that is not returned. Written in its entirety in 1994, this is a piece from the very beginning of the Congregation, but it is certainly different and much more advanced than the songs on 'Weeping'. 11 minutes of yummy heavy guitar slowness and sad lead melodies.
'When The Weeping Dawn Beheld Its Mortal Thirst' is the obligatory acoustic track that features on each Mournful Congregation album. It consists of a normal backing, but only acoustic guitars as lead. Comparable to 'Empirical Choirs', but much, much better in execution! Lyrically this is a profound spiritual contemplation and a prayer to "The Transcendental". This is one of those songs where the spiritual themes of this band stand out in a wonderful way. The song ends with two minutes of warped prelude to the final and title track of the album.
And there it is, almost 21 minutes in length, 'The Monad Of Creation'. A hymn to the very filament with which the universe is sown together. Here and there, a real Skepticism-vibe pops up, which is a nice surprise and a great development. This song contains some of the best melodies I've ever heard in doom metal, so that should give you an indication of how good it is.
I think I could go on for hours about this album, but I have to call it quits at some point, so let's make it now. When push comes to shove, there are good albums, great ones, and ones that transcend into lonely heights, where only 'classics' can reach. Perhaps this one may not be accessible enough to appeal to all (doom) metal fans and become known enough to be a recognised classic. It is and will remain a classic to me, though, as this is simply one of the best albums in doom in the past few years, and one of the very best I've ever heard. I can't do anything but recommend this to everyone who reads this.
1. Mother - Water, The Great Sea Wept
2. As I Drown In Loveless Rain
3. When The Weeping Dawn Beheld Its Mortal Thirst
4. The Monad Of Creation
Approx. 61 minutes