Thurisaz – The Pulse of Mourning (2015)

When the core of a band stays together since the beginning, the quality and structure of their music stays greatly unchanged and constantly improves, this is the case for Belgium’s premier Atmospheric Death/Black/Doom outfit Thurisaz. Having caught our attention since their magnificent debut “Scent of a Dream” back in 2004, the band has been taking their time to release albums, but every time the wait is completely worth it. With “The Pulse of Mourning” the band further refines their signature sound and delivers nine brilliantly melancholic songs.

After the instrumental opener, the band burst into action with the pummeling first few minutes of “…For A Change”. Thurisaz has always combined Death/Black Metal style onslaughts with lush atmospheric elements, and this song (and release) keeps the tradition. As the previous track winds down, the band continues with the more rhythmical and perfect for headbanging “Patterns of Life”. In this track we are treated to band’s signature melodic passages that are greatly enhanced by some moody clean male vocals. The band’s constant influx of creativity into the tempo changes of their songs is unique, and greatly exemplified in this song.

Cruising by the Doomy “Rays of Light” and the acoustic mood setter “Tangram”, the masterpiece of this release comes under the name of “One Final Step”. After a restless first few minutes with killer drumming and some brilliant melodic guitars, the song goes into beyond-awesome mode after the 4 minute mark. This nicely blends into the acoustic “Enslaved Dreams” and into the dreamy “In All Remembrance”. The brilliant pace that nicely blends these songs together is masterful and the subtle keyboards make the whole atmosphere very ethereal and sublime. The band could have easily made the last three songs into a 15+ minute epic and it would have worked wonderfully.

Closing with a bleak and very emotional “Stargaze” is follows more in the (latest) Anathema style, rather than the band’s heavier sound, they have managed to release a brilliant album that  Overall, Thurisaz is always at the top of their game and with “The Pulse of Mourning” the band further elevates their legacy with another masterpiece. If you like your melancholic music to be heavy and diverse, look no further and pick up a copy of this release.

Label: Sleazy Rider Records

Release: March 31st, 2015

Genre: Atmospheric Death/Black/Doom Metal

Country: Belgium