A Murderous Circus

The third release from these bearers of Irish Doom is yet another spectacular album chock full of pain and anguish. The writing style on this album is slightly more adventurous than on the previous release yet hardly progressive. The production value is probably on par with its predecessor.

The guitars are heavy and threatening on this album from the get go. They have an incredibly menacing feel that bodes well with the slow rhythms and bleak landscape. There are no solos (sadly) but there are countless leads laced about this weeping tapestry of woe. Like its predecessor, this album is slight faster than the one before it.

The bass still follows the guitars too closely for its own good; this could/should have been different. The drums have continued on the path of creativity and help to keep this album from stagnating.

The vocals are once again in the bands trademarked style of crooning and growling. They work well with the given material and are thusly good. The lyrics are in the same vein as the previous recordings.

Over all, this album is heavier than 'Sullen Sulcus' but it’s also shorter. The band almost explored new territory but unfortunately stayed in what they felt was a safer place. This isn't a bad thing necessarily but it does lower the score of this album.

If there are any complaints it would be there were some misses in the editing and the guitars aren't always in sync. Also it would be that they re-released this CD a few months after it had been initially released containing a bonus disc with several goodies. There are two studio tracks (one of which is a re-recording of a previously released song) while the others consist of 4 live tracks. In regards to the live tracks, there is only one complaint and that is on the opening track it starts out loud and then is cut to about 1/4 the volume.

Aside from this one irritant, this is a real treat for those of us who will probably never hear/see the band live. Over all this is a pretty decent live experience. There are some noticeable screw-up’s from the guitarists in a few songs but they always recover quickly. At the end of one song one of the pair tries fruitlessly to shred. Frank doesn't go as high as he does on the studio versions and is slightly off key in a few places. Darren on the other hand sounds good for about 90% of the CD. He almost loses his voice in a few places but it doesn't detract from the music as a whole.

The bass and the drums don't mess up at all and play flawlessly. You can hear a little crowd noise after each song as there is little to no band interaction with the audience (some would see this as a good thing whereas others might be put off by this).

This is another hard to swallow slice of Doomdeath Metal; even though it is more accessible than their previous two albums. As such, more than just the Doom crowd will be able to find something here. The double disc version is the one you want to get if you can find a copy.

This is no coincidence everyone writing about Mourning Beloveth feels compelled to begin by mentioning how much they’re influenced by the Holy Trinity of British death/doom metal, namely Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema. Actually, these Irish guys are likely to have double-locked themselves around 1993 in some lost chapel where, being so busy worshipping their copies of Lost Paradise, Turn Loose the Swans or the Crestfallen EP, they still haven’t noticed in the outside world things had changed a bit. If a Murderous Circus is striking, it’s first by its anachronism. Its appreciation is thus likely to depend a lot on the listener’s views: while purists are likely to rejoice and claim it’s the one and only way death/doom has to be played, some others won’t prevent themselves from thinking Mourning Beloveth could, at least, have tried to add a slight personal touch.

Granted, at first glance the band seems to be willing to play a smoother, friendlier, and even modernized kind of death/doom. Songs for instance are slow, but they’re not THAT slow, and without even venturing into the realms of funeral doom, your average Reverend Bizarre track is already slower, without mentioning most tracks from early ParadiseLost/MDB/Anathema. The production is also far less creepy than with their illustrious predecessors, who all showed some inclination for creaking guitars and slightly buzzing sounds – by contrast everything here sounds neat and clear. Top all this by an obvious taste for melody (see the intro of Elemental Nausea, or the majority of the slightly upbeat The Apocalypse Machine) allied to a non-negligible use of clean vocals, and you’ll get the misleading picture of a not-so-harsh act.

But Mourning Beloveth is soon reminding the listener they haven’t come to have fun, and the day one of these five songs will be aired on the radio is likely to coincide with the day Korn will record the successor to The Number of the Beast every metalhead is dreaming of. Seventy-five minutes for only five tracks, that alone should convince everyone it’s serious business we’re talking about here, and the gentle acoustic parts of Elemental Nausea and The Crashing Wave are nothing but lures. Have Paradise Lost added a scarce amount of female vocals, even in their early days? Mourning Beloveth won’t. My Dying Bride, a violin? Mourning Beloveth won’t. Keyboards? Not half of a single note will be heard here. So-called clean vocals sound more tortured than pop-ish/progressive, and all the tracks show little difference: long slices of gloomy, often obsessively repetitive, sometimes bordering on minimalism, guitars riffs. While those may be, indeed, deemed as “melodic”, it’s not the kind of melodies which are likely to stick into one’s head. And if lyrics aren’t particularly remarkable, the songtitles however perfectly mirror the music: a neverending rolling, crushing machine, an inexorable wave overflowing the listener sometimes to, let’s admit it, the limits of nausea...

...what might have been the aim of Mourning Beloveth indeed, but nonetheless becomes more or less unpleasant after a while. A tad too often the band seems to fall into this questionable habit of early MDB especially – being lengthy for the sake of being lengthy. The detractors of the Holy Trinity of death/doom, and even some of its admirers, rejoin on one point: it periodically leans towards boredom, and Mourning Beloveth, as worthy successors, are no exception. Of course A Murderous Circus consists in all but immediately accessible music and needs several listens to be fully appreciated, but inexcusably dragging on moments still remain. The worst of all being the FIVE minutes long middle part of Nothing only consisting in one minimal muffled down bass-driven interlude! While it at first doesn’t go without some novel, avant-garde charm, that one is unfortunately soon vanishing. Eventually the vocals are another concern – a little concern as a large part of the work is, in fact, instrumental. While growls are overall fine, even if they sometimes sound a tad forced, cleaner parts are most of time a heresy. I previously used the term “tortured”, but “out-of-tune” would be closer to truth, as in his worst moments the singer doesn’t have anything to envy to Quorthon himself (not to offend the memory of the great man, but hey). Well, indeed, it’s no easy music!

Fortunately the good points are numerous enough to make forget the several little flaws this release is dusted with and, if Mourning Beloveth is definitely all but the most original band ever, it’s another of these bands who at least “know their job” and do it well. A Murderous Circus once again brings back the nostalgia of the good old days of death/doom metal and that alone should make it worthy of praise, and even purchase. And – it’s likely to grow up on you.

Highlights: pointing out a “best” or “worst” track on such a record would make little sense; each is a mixed bag of excellent, good and less good.

When people think doom, they think My Dying Bride or Paradise Lost. Rarely does someone immediately think of a band from the luscious isle of Ireland and what they may have done for doom metal. Doom exists everywhere, both in musical form and in atmosphere. However, most people still do not think of guys like Ireland’s own Mourning Beloveth although they should given the previously named bands. Mourning Beloveth formed in 1992 in an Irish village to play the doomiest metal you could get from the green isle.

They play pretty bog standard doom metal as set by their peers in the early 2nd wave of doom. That means slow to mid tempo songs, guitars and drums played accordingly, and most vocals are rather on the deathy side of things for them. It’s really middle-of-the-road type stuff but don’t let that sway you from listening to them or buying any of their albums. Mourning Beloveth are very good at what they do and they should very well stick to it. While some people will label them as doom/death based solely on the vocal style, I feel they’re very steadfast in being pure doom and do not need to be placed into a hybrid categorization.

The album A Murderous Circus was an eagerly awaited release that took about 4 weeks to get to me from Ireland but I was not let down, despite the fact that I completely mistook them for early career My Dying Bride — an easy mistake to make. Since their earlier releases, Mourning Beloveth have developed a pretty good formula. Since their album Dust, the riffing has been a focal point of each song aside from the tormenting lyrics. Each song’s riffing is heavy and pounding with slight distortion for effect. The first track The Apocalypse Machine is a thundering mid tempo lead off that definitely does not set the tone for the whole album but does showcase their maturity in song structure and writing. A near 15 minute epic filled with heady and power chord heavy riffs from the beginning. It proceeds to lull you through 14:40 of slow, cold and pulverizing doom. The first few minutes come at you slowly, grinding you down with the choppy guitars. They continue to use this method to bring your mood to a solemn level of depression and sloth and they definitely succeed at it. The lyrics for the song are portrayed in a breathy yet deep tone that somehow sits “behind” the guitar track. This is definitely the fastest song on the entire CD.

The next track, Elemental Nausea is definitely an about-face from the first track in that it’s slower than creeping death and continues that for almost 12 minutes. Again, the lyrics are breathy but have more of a lighter tone to them throughout the song, save for the whispering vocal-over track they added for effect. It’s a nice touch to add depth to the story of the track. However, once again the poignant vocals take a backseat track to the drums and the guitars and I hope this is intentional because it’s not like this on earlier releases. Skip ahead to track 4 and it’s a 20 minute epic of more molasses-speed doom that we love. This time though, the vocals are more shouted than spoken or sung and again, there’s an accompanying whisper track that is actually layered behind the main vocal track. With a title like Nothing (The March of Death), the song keeps true to its namesake not only in length but in the unwavering slow-mid tempo segues through the song. Almost all of the more upbeat portions lack vocal to let the guitars take center stage and showcase themselves and this is a good formula for them. But at nearly 20 minutes, it can kind of begin to drone on. It’s very formulaic which is both a hindrance and an advantage since they know exactly what they’re looking to do but sometimes, it goes on too long.

Overall, I really enjoy the CD and listen to it a lot at work because it’s rather soothing and monotone against the backdrop of pornogrind and gorecore that I’ve been listening to lately. Even with its formulaic elements that may prove a thorn in their side in the future, the group is going places in the growing doom scene. From start to finish, each song is solid on its own and could survive alone on a 7″. The guitar work is strong and has excellent production and shows a great amount of maturity from past albums. The vocals are so-so from track to track but generally do the current song justice. And the drumming is rather forgettable since it’s not what is meant to be on display for Mourning Beloveth. Go listen to the tracks at Amazon and really, you should just buy the damned thing. They’re rising up through the doom ranks and deserve the play time from doom’s devotees.

I've heard of this Irish Doom band before but I never really listened to them. I found myself one day in Rouen, France, as a stopover on the way to the Normandy beaches. I finished doing my laundry when I found this Metal store. Pleasantly surprised at finding a Metal shop in the city where Joan of Arc was executed, I entered. 60 euros and 45 minutes later, I emerged with 3 CDs. This being one of them. I bought the digipak version of this CD, despite my unfamiliarity with this band, probably due to impulse. I often regret impulse buys but after a few spins of this disc I must say this is not the case with this band.

What we have is 5 tracks and 74 minutes of some of the best modern Doom-Death I've heard in quite some time. The album begins without fanfare or overlong intro, but straight into the opening track The Apocalypse Machine. The song begins with some melodic riffing. About 5 minutes in the riffing becomes more centred on power chords, but the chords are interspaced with some nice melodic riffing. The song then moves into a clean guitar section, with some understated, sorrowful leads. From then it gets heavier again before ending.

I won't go into a song-by-song review because most of the songs contain the same elements. There is lots of melodic riffing on this disc, and a lot of it reminds me of Candlemass or MDB in their primes, without sounding derivative. There are heavier moments when they rely more on power chords and more dissonant chords (diads perhaps?). Some of the disc's best moments are when the lead guitar is playing some melodic lead while the rhythm guitar stomps on some meaty chords. There are also clean guitar riffs as well, usually simply appergiated chords. The latter unfortunately aren't really a strong trait on this album as most of the clean parts sound rather uninspired.

Another strong point of this album is the production, at least for the guitars. They sound absolutely immense! Even the melodies sound heavy! Alas, while the production is a gift for the guitars, the bass is downright inaudible and the drums sound a bit weak.

Where this band loses some points is in the vocals department. The grunts are merely adequate and aren't particularly deep or convincing. The same can be said of the clean vocals, they are adequate but lack conviction. This band could also use some improvement in the songwriting department; there are times on this album where the songs begin to drag a bit. Usually due to relying for too long a period on the same riff, there are some awesome riffs on this album but due to constant repition they lose some of their impact. Part of me suspects this band is trying to stretch the songs beyond their normal lengths. The shortest song on this disc is just under 12 minutes and the longest just under 20. I feel sometimes that this album would be better if each song were just a minute or two shorter.

The digipak doesn?t offer much more to the listener. An unreleased song here, a re-worked song here, a bunch of live songs here. Nothing special. Again I haven't really listened to their previous output so I can't judge how this compares, but I think this band does have potential to record a masterpiece within the next few years, so long as they keep developing. But despite the flaws, this is still one of the strongest modern Doom-Death recordings I've heard in a while. And so its time to get your pints of Guinness filled and toast to the Guinness of Doom: Mourning Beloveth!