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1.  The Catechism of Depression
2.  The Waterless Streams
3.  The Bitter Veils of Solemnity
4.  The Book of Kings

Total playing time:  1:16:49

Release Date: November 1, 2011
Label: 20 Buck Spin Records

Mournful Congregation - Book of Kings

Reviewer: Chris

January 16, 2012

Doom from down under.

Within the span of four long, yet completely encompassing songs Mournful Congregation takes funeral doom metal to a logical and heightening plateau. What usually amounts to arduous overcompensation with tracks this ‘involved’ has proven once again that if there is enough variation and honesty injected into music then length becomes superfluous and even necessary.

Without drifting completely into drawn-out or uninspired dirges MC takes the higher road and assembles musical chapters into an unfamiliar collection of thoughts and images that are evocative and transcendent. What makes this record totally enveloping is the genuine attention to music that creates intense visuals in an effort to infect the senses with something gloriously undervalued. For metal music the visuals are the most important element in any band, any genre or any song; the thematic devices are wholly absent or on constant repeat in modern pop or even country music, thereby rendering it essentially too safe and widely pedestrian, leaving little to no room for growth or internal examination. You don’t have a lack of that with The Book of Kings due in part to the talent of these four gentlemen. With soaring guitars (acoustic and electric), solid bass lines, low groaning or whispered vocals and drums in perfect synchronicity with the mood of each track this record finds the harmony and design that Opeth has left far behind.

While each track has its own incredible traits to compliment, “The Bitter Veils of Solemnity” is, to put it bluntly, one of the most fascinating tracks of this type I’ve heard in some time. Now, to not pigeonhole Mounrful Congregation in a league of Opeth imitators or to stultify their own merits, it’s merely the sound that shows some tremendous likenesses to the Swedish counterparts; the music MC creates here is of their own magical value, fashioning vast and varying landscapes through chord structures that often carry you away from the distractions of life. Usually it’s the mundane albums that cause the ADD to kick in if it’s just not happening, but this record pulls you in without pause and never gets boring or repetitive with its elongated time frame. While the band is notoriously famous for albums with long durations, they manage to keep up the tradition of mixing up the ingredients just right to make your dollars work for you when you invest in them. From one moment of somber solitude (“The Catechism of Depression”) that finds your deepest introversion and massages its reluctant shell to the uplifting moments of serenity and haunting awareness (“The Waterless Streams”) you will find yourself pulled into the swirling din and flooded with emotions and feelings that will certainly have this music in your rotation for months to come. When the half-hour title track begins its roller coaster ride of peaks and valleys though turmoil, anger and sorrow while telling the tale of twisted royalty you quickly realize this could have been an EP all its own, but the story from start to finish is both necessary and warranted. Without giving itself over to the conceptual piece from inception to nadir, each small story on The Book of Kings is its own island, valuable and beautiful in stark precision.

This is one of those can’t-miss records, so don’t if at all humanly feasible. Your hardened psyche could use a break.