Dust

‘Dust’ has existed for over ten years now, and its continual melancholic presence in my CD player (iPod) and in my mind since that time has prompted this review. Additionally the promise of some new material from the band soon has made me consider just what was so good about their first album, and wonder whether they will ever match its melancholic power. Time will tell.

Press play and Mourning Beloveth’s supernaturally mammoth guitar sound simply drops on you, such is its huge presence. Metal is often described as crushing, but it is never truer said than here: the pure weight is something to experience. And that’s felt before the song (The Mountains Are Mine) has even really started; very soon the mixture of spoken vocals and sweeping melancholic singing begins while the listener is introduced to the band’s style on this album: heavy guitar riffs, melodic and miserable lead lines, tempos ranging from very slow through mid-paced to actually quite fast sometimes, guttural death vocals mixed with clean singing and an overall bleak and doomy atmosphere. Mountains are an apt image when trying to describe MB’s sound, because hugeness is the key: their songs stand as massive, desolate and unmovable as mountains.

Best example of MB at their bleak best comes in ‘Autumnal Fires.’ The vocal melodies here are spine-tingling, such is their melancholy majesty and the lyrics seem to relate the story of two lovers committing suicide, showing you where MB are coming from lyrically. My Dying Bride are the band that they often get compared to and they are certainly in that area, musically and lyrically. But their song writing and musical approach are strong enough to make ‘Dust’ stand next to anything MDB have released in terms of quality. But where some of MDB’s early albums suffered slightly from poor production ‘Dust’ sounds amazing; every nuance is heard in crystal clarity and every inch of power to be had from these songs is felt in no uncertain terms. Mourning Beloveth formed ten years before this album, their debut, was released, showing a band that have really had the time to perfect their songs and make them everything they can be. They are long, narrative pieces, expertly performed with multiple twists and turns that drag the listener down to realms of uncontrolled despair and righteous misery. Soundscapes for the troubled soul.

For those who like death/doom bands ‘Dust’ is an album they should not be without. It’s heavy, melancholic and emotional. Time stops in its presence. It is doom personified basically. I’m going to listen to it again now, and hope that the new album doesn’t take too long to arrive.

Originally written for: http://hauntingtheobscure.blogspot.co.uk/

Almost ten years in the making, Mourning Beloveth finally release the long awaited debut full-length album entitled "Dust". The Doom/Death Metal band from Ireland make their first attempt at releasing an album and what an album it is. "Dust" contains six tracks, one of which is a hidden track which lasts just over an hour. It's a musical journey of highs and lows in terms of feelings and moods projected through song. "Dust" happened to be the very first album i'd heard by Mourning Beloveth and it certainly left an impression on me.

As with most Doom Metal influenced bands, this album is generally quite slow and droning in its approach. This is a very dark, mesmerising and intense journey through all the emotions associated with sadness and depression. Make no mistake, this album is very melancholic and sombre. What strikes me most about this album is the vocals, especially the clean vocals because they're absolutely astounding. The vocalist has quite some voice on him, i can tell you that. His clean vocals speak volumes about the music and its themes in general. Very sombre and quite depressing in his approach. They fit accordingly to the slow, droning music and add to the atmosphere. The growls express the more primitive emotions associated with depression and fulfil its job. Melody is extremely important throughout each and every song. As each tracks plays by you'll notice beautiful melodies and slow rhythms, most notably on the track entitled "Autumnal Fires", which happens to be my personal favourite namely due to the clean vocals and guitar melodies towards the end of the song. Double bass plays a crucial part in the drumming, which is mid-paced and gives you a sense that the drummer is never out of his depth and is, as with the rest of the bands members, an accomplished musician. Certainly one of the best Doom Metal albums to come out in a while, along with "Arcane Rain Fell" by Draconian.

This is an intense musical journey of the soul (If you believe in it!) and remains to be dark and gloomy from beginning to end. A must buy for all Doom Metal fans.

"Dust" was my first experience with Mourning Beloveth, and definitely got me into the Doom Metal genre, about which I didn't know too much at the time. From the very first tune to the last one, I sat listening in awe to this brilliant piece of music; an experience that has only increased in intensity over the years I own the album. For me, it's one of the best metal albums around; dark and heavy, intense, and quite depressing as well, and most of all, doesn't annoy for one single moment.

One can easily compare it to My Dying Bride, but the music is slower, even more gloomy (yes, that's possible), and at times more melodic. This is one hell of an Irish outfit, and remains to date one of my top five favourite bands in metal. Unlike some doom metal that tends to become boring, these guys deliver their epic threnodies with chilling passion and fire. Darren has a really great voice (grunts and clean) that suits the music perfectly; twin guitar melodies are the core of the songs, backed with mostly a slow, intense rhythm. Some special attention should be paid to the lyrics, which are really of the finest around.

The overall production of the album is very clear and a dense, bassy guitar sound dominates.

If there's a soundtrack to the feeling of ultimate gloom and depression, this is. I recommend it highly to lovers of slow and melodic music.

"Overwhelming anguish"

Mourning Beloveth's debut album Dust took almost ten years to make for the band, but upon hearing it, I must say it was worth all the wait. The band has been promising with their demos ever since 92.
The album came out in 2000, but was rerealed with 3 bonus tracks the following year. Generally speaking, this Irish band plays a style of doom/death, akin to early My Dying Bride, at times even surpassing them. The songs are on average around 10 minutes, very epic, yet heavy with nice melodies thrown in there.

The first track Mountains are Mine opens with a sort of dual vocal approach (echo), then we hear Darren's great clean vocals, shortly proceeded by powerful growls. The clean vocals remind me of Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride. The riffs in this song are outstanding and flow well with the excellent drumming. The lyrics are very emotional as well as being the longest on the album.
The second song In Mourning My Days opens up with an acoustic part, then the double bass drums kick in. This song has a bit of a resemblance to Opeth at times.
Dust is the title track on the album, in my opinion also the strongest track on here. We hear more deep growls alternating with beautiful clean vocals. There are some very catchy riffs towards the middle of the song. Musically, it remains bleak, doomy, slow, just the way you like it.
Autumnal Fires has been on the 98 demo with the same name. This song is mostly clean vocals done by Darren. It reminds me of mid period Anathema at times.
The last track on the album is All Hope is Pleading. We hear melodies and vocals reminiscent of Solitude Aeturnus. The track closes out the album with great growls slowly fading out.

If you still can't get enough doom, then I suggest you purchase the reissue of Dust with 3 bonus tracks, one from the upcoming album the Sullen Sulcus, a short instrumental track and last another demo track, clocking in altogether at a whopping 75 minutes.

When all is said and done Mourning Beloveth have created a masterpiece that has been very well received in the doom community and in my humble opinion one of the best doom albums in the last 5 years. I highly recommend this record to all fans of metal.

"Your nailed beauty, Shames them of Life
My Life, My Love, My Mourning Beloveth"