Mournful Congregation – The Unspoken Hymns (2011)

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Funeral Doom Metal is certainly an acquired taste, but once you can enjoy behemoth 10 to 20 minute songs; this is one of the most satisfying genres of Metal. The Aussies of Mournful Congregation have been delivering crushing 10+ minute songs since 1993, and have engineered some of the most epic tracks of pure depression and desolation. With only three full-length releases under their belt but with several splits and compilation, the band is truly an underground phenomenon to be reckoned with.

Lucky for American fans, 20 Buck Spin is releasing “The Unspoken Hymns”, a compilation album featuring one ‘new’ song (a remix) and several other tracks only available in hard to find Vinyl split releases. This is a great opportunity to checkout some of the less known but equally devastating tracks of this legendary band. Opening with the “Left Unspoken” remix version, from the “Four Burials” split CD, the band quickly establishes its very slow and agonizing pace with crushing guitar riffing and monumental slowdowns.

Our favorite song of this EP is the very crisp and demolishing “The Epitome of Gods and Men Alike” of their 2002 split with Worship. This track is probably the ‘cleanest’ one of this EP (meaning the best sounding one), and has a vast array of weeping guitar sections paired with inhuman growls, very similar to more traditional (and faster) Death/Doom Metal. One thing we quickly noticed as the third song rolled out is that the recording quality between the songs is very different, and while the tracks where originally recorded and mastered for vinyl, there is no indication that they have been re-mastered for this CD release (and sounds like they haven’t).

“A Slow March to the Burial”, is very well crafted and a very short one indeed (only six minutes and 30 seconds). The acoustic guitars and whispers/growls of “Descent of the Flames” will haunt your night sleep for a while. Closing this release, we have “Elemental” a cover of the all might Finish band Thergothon (one of the founders of Funeral Doom Metal). The vocals sound a bit more inhuman than usual and the depressive nature of the riffing is outstanding.

Overall, we think that 20 Buck Spin is very brave in trying to introduce this amazing band to the North American public with a compilation album rather than a re-issue of their back catalogue. All of this is done in preparation for the band’s release of their 4th full-length release through the same label later this year. If you are a fan of the genre or similar bands (Evoken, Thergothon, Shape of Despair, etc) and don’t have all the split albums of this band, you should definitely check this release out.

Band: Mournful Congregation Album: The Unspoken Hymns
Label: 20 Buck Spin

Release: September 20th, 2011

Oficial Site myspace
Genre: Funeral Doom Metal

Country: Australia

Rating: 87/100
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