Phonebook Eater 8/10

"The Weight Of Oceans" is the best In Mourning release so far.

In Mourning are a Swedish Melodic Death Metal band: “The Weight Of Oceans” is their third full length album, following 2010’s “Monolith”. Personally, that listen was not at all rewarding, and I wasn’t looking forward to further In Mourning material to listen to. But, as I saw that this new album was getting much more attention, I picked it up, and the band did a complete 180 for me.

There is a huge, massive improvement over that sophomore release; while that seemed to be a mere Melodeath album with not much boldness nor originality accompanying it, “The Weight Of Oceans” has both of those characteristics in great abundance. There is also a broader palette of influences that can be heard, of different kinds of metal, from Gothic, to Doom, to Progressive Metal. The band is still pretty much fixed on Melodic Death Metal, but it seems that this time around, they’re appreciating a wider amount of music. The grand majority of riffs they compose and bring up are extremely catchy: In Mourning also structure their songs very cleverly, in a way similar to Prog Metal (at this point, Opeth is in fact another obvious influence, not only strictly musically speaking, but also when it comes to assembling the flow of one track). With cleverness and catchiness mixed so well together, we get nine, mammoth tracks that are hard to forget.

Boasting a terrific flow, (although one small letdown for me is the fact that the songs are some times too close to each other, without omitting that gap of air that can be essential for the listener to take a deep breath before plunging into the next track) In Mourning throw at the listener a handful of amazingly fresh, memorable tracks, starting from “Colossus”, the opening act: running for nine minutes, this track is a perfect gathering of great riffs and moods, fused together appropriately and ordered in a way that keeps the listener attentive constantly. The second track, “A Vow to Conquer The Queen”, is driven in mainly one direction, but it goes straight up that path without hesitating: it’s completely condensed into heaviness and technicality, without not being unique sounding. “Celestial Tears” is a wonderfully melancholic, somber, atmospheric semi-ballad, while the track following that is possibly the best of the entire album, “Convergence”, which includes a Doomy-rhythmed passages in its core, and is surrounded by a relatively virtuous Death Metal feel, mixed with some evident Prog Metal influences. The band goes so far to even sound sludgy at times, with the final track “Voyage Of a Wavering Mind”, where even Post Metal brushes can be heard in the background.

“The Weight Of Oceans” is an epic collection of tracks that have an equal amount of muscles and brains. The wide and eclectic range of influences prove how In Mourning like to experiment with their Death Metal, creating a beast that is theirs only. A possible candidate for Death Metal album of the year.

Time Signature Colossus...

Genre: progressive gothic metal

Branded a progressive melodic death metal band, In Mourning obviously have certain liberties and can get away with things that other more traditional genre-bound death metal artists might not be forgiven for.

Their latest release "The Weight of Oceans", for instance, does not at all strike me as being a death metal release. Well, that is, the vocal style consists of growls and screams, but other than that we are dealing with music which is much more in the direction of gothic metal blended with alternative rock and progressive metal. And, you know what, it is pretty good actually. I think that the melancholic bass-driven opening of the very first track 'Colossus' pretty much makes that clear.

Drawing on dark atmospheres, melodic harmonies and spicing things up with odd time signatures every now and then, In Mourning have really struck gold artistically speaking. Not unlike with gothic metal legends Paradise Lost, melancholic and melodic guitar leads are a central feature in the sound of In Mourning's music - even in more aggressive tunes like the thrashy 'A Vow to Conquer the Ocean' and the black metal informed 'Isle of Solace' do we hear melodic guitar leads. And it is exactly this sense of melody, and the lushness it generates, along with the little details and twists and turns found throughout this album, that makes "The Weight of Oceans" the very interesting and compelling listen that it is.

In many ways, In Mourning could be described as a more sophisticated Paradise Lost (of course, In Mourning have their own sound - this is just to draw a line of comparison), combining melancholy and musical lushness. I think that "The Weight of Oceans" should appeal to fans of the likes of Barren Earth, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and perhaps also Crematory and Ecnephias.

Gallifrey In Mourning ? "The Weight Of Oceans"

12/20

48th place album of the year 2012

Melodeath bands never cease to amaze me in their ability to keep music going using only guitars. I often argue that if they used clean vocals as well as the complex guitars they could be some of the most revered bands in the world. Insomnium, a Finnish band, would easily become my favourite band of all time if they didn't use death growling.

But that's where the talent in these bands lies. They can somehow make an 'ugly' genre, death metal, beautiful. I can't help but dream what these bands must be like to people who actually enjoy death growling. In Mourning really nail some of the death growled parts. I often raise albums for having 'catchy' choruses, or vocal hooks as the music majors call them. But somehow the chorus of "Colossus" is insanely catchy without even having a vocal melody. I find myself chanting my impression of a growl to that rhythm every time, as I would to any pop song.

To the reason of its position in this chart, the guitars. While "Colossus" nails it with vocals, most of the other songs are laden with decent riffs, the sort of riffs regular metal bands would use in one song, In Mourning nails 8 of them into one track. It really is intriguing listening, and not once do I complain about the ugliness of the vocals like I do in regular death metal, because I'm not really listening to them.

But this album has another gem. I had not heard In Mourning before this release, but I understand from fan reactions that "Celestial Tear" is a new thing for them. This entirely clean-sung song sits right in the middle of the album like an oasis for those, like me, who aren't fans of the death vocals. And not just that, it is a truly wonderful song, even on an album filled with similar style songs this would stick out, but on an album of heavy melodic death metal, this gothic rock beauty really takes the cake.

You may be wondering why this review is overtly positive and yet this album isn't that high. Again, it's just my prejudice against death growling. Sorry. So, recommended in completeness to any extreme metal fans, especially those who love riffs as opposed to solos. I still recommend others listen to this, check out "Celestial Tear" and "Colossus", to see if you like it, as I'm not an extreme metal fan and I still enjoy it.

Originally posted on my facebook page/blog http://www.facebook.com/neoprogisbestprog