Mournful Congregation - The June Frost

2011's massive The Book Of Kings was the album that moved Mournful Congregation beyond their status as a cult funeral doom band from Australia. It was lauded by many as the doom release of the year, and appeared on many best of 2011 lists. Now all previous full-length albums by the band has been made available on the 20 Buck Spin Bandcamp; including their rare debut Tears From A Grieving Heart, originally released on tape in 1999.

The Book Of Kings was a return to the style of their earliest works, featuring nothing but long, monolithic tracks. The June Frost is structurally similar to Aldebaran 's Embracing The Lightless Depths with longer songs interspersed with shorter instrumentals. The production is a little crisper, the compositions are a little more varied, and there is guitar. Keening solos, ornamental leads, relentless riffs, beautiful harmonies and intricate interplay. Lots of guitar.

I love the sound of the electric guitar. Funeral doom, because of the glacial speeds, allows the guitars to sing and lets each distorted note ring out. With song titles like A Slow March To The Burial and Suicide Choir you know this isn't going to be a fun record. But the guitars create a sort of majestic beauty, and the end result is strangely uplifting. This funeral doom makes me happy.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Mournful Congregation - The Book of Kings

Artwork by Sean Schock

The new Mournful Congregation album The Book of Kings is available on the 20 Buck Spin Bandcamp. One of the reasons I don't write proper reviews for the blog is that I'm not very good at it - they would be littered with "great", "fantastic" and that old cliche "crushing". But let me just say this about The Book of Kings: It's great, it's fantastic and it crushes.

The title track is just huge in every sense, over half an hour of the most sorrowful and majestic funeral doom there is.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Mournful Congregation - The Unspoken Hymns

Mournful Congregation's The Unspoken Hymns is a collection of all of the bands four splits over their 15+ year career, plus a cover of Thergothon's "Elemental". It was released on the 20 Buck Spin Bandcamp as a prequel

Mournful Congregation's The Unspoken Hymns is a collection of all of the bands four splits over their 15+ year career, plus a cover of Thergothon's "Elemental". It was released on the 20 Buck Spin Bandcamp as a prequel of sorts to their next full-length The Book of Kings.

This is emotional funeral doom characterized by droning guitar passages and simple, but incredibly heavy drumming. Mournful Congregation's take on the genre is dynamic, but off course still incredible slow moving. Just like it should be.