Time Signature Silence of the passed...

Genre: funeral doom

Okay, before listening to this release, hide away all sharp tools in your home and have someone lock up your guns (if you have any), and you would also be advised to throw out any sleeping pills or any other medicaments of that sort. Why? Because this as a Mournful Congregation EP, and Mournful Congregation are the undisputed kings of Australian funeral doom. Concrescence Of The Sophia contain only two tracks, but these are of epic proportions and are bound to drive you right into a pit of depression.

The title track, with its near twenty-to minutes of playing time, is a lesson in slow and tortured, yet beautifully melodic, doom metal of the most compellingly depressing type. On top of the slow beats we find melancholic guitar melodies and atmospheric growled vocals. The other track 'Silence of the Passed', while "only" 9 minutes long, slows down even more and, with its addition of clean guitars on top of distorted ones, it delves even further into the realm of crestfallenness than the title track.

While the music is stunningly beautiful, and the compositions dynamic in their own way, I think that the production is perhaps a bit thin, and I think that the guitars in particular could have been given more substance. However, in the greater scheme of things, this is a minor point. This EP is simply the epitome of quality funeral doom metal, and any fan of the genre should at least give it a listen.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)