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Mourner : Apogee of Nihility
Whilst building on the work of genre pioneers, Mourner's debut is a solid
outing showing great craft. |
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| Mourner are a Death/Doom band from Russia and this is their debut
album. The band consists of three members, A.D and Gor who are also from Pagan
Black Metal band Ragor, whilst Saw makes this melodic lineup complete.
This album is straight in your face from the first song. Fans of old school
Death/Doom will surely love this. Influenced by such greats as Paradise
Lost and My Dying Bride this album carries a wide range of melodies
to suit new and old fans of this genre.
Mourner’s album 'Apogee of Nihility' starts us off with 'The Scorched Sun'. It’s a melodic opening with strings and guitars playing off against one another. It’s very majestic in the opening moments and once the vocals come in they are big and deep. They blend really well with the ever changing riffs. The songs are not overly long but that does not matter as they pack tons of great harmonies and special moments throughout. You feel like you're in for a treat after the first song. 'Do Not Get Through' is fast paced from the start. The drums are really good and add that bit of extra excitement. Softer parts and mid tempo changes are welcome and it’s another solid track. The overall mix and mastering is of excellent quality. Great separation between the instruments and I really loved the heaviness of the bass within the mix. The actual structure and riff building I think is cleverly brought together. Nothing over complicates things and the vocal lines glide effortlessly over them. This is not all just doom and gloom though. Yes we have sad melodies and thoughtful passages of reflection but there is also a warmth to the sound. It really carries you along a journey, one that changes like the seasons. The next three songs carry the torch perfectly. 'Apogee of Nihility' has some great stuff in it. I loved the little bass interlude in this. 'Slave of Fate' is fast and furious with some machine gun bass drum. It gets it claws hooked into you and it is relentless, never letting go. This was my favourite track off the album. 'The Broken Life' has a nice Ahab style riff at the start before cascading into some fast and powerful chugging. Strings again gracefully float between the heaviness adding again some warmth to the song. By the time the album closes with the instrumental 'Epilogue' which has some great moments and catchy melodies you feel like the journey was worth while. This is pretty solid stuff for a debut album. Even though this band carries the flag of the old pioneers they have still shown great craft in their work and should be very proud of this album. Click HERE to discuss this review on the doom-metal forum. |
| Tracklist : 1. The Scorched Sun 2. Do Not Get Through 3. Slaves of Fate 4. Apogee of Nihility 5. The Broken Life 6. Cobweb of Captivity 7. Epilogue Duration : Approx. 45 minutes Visit the Mourner bandpage. |
