ALBUM REVIEW: Disenlightenment – Mourning
Come on, you know what this sounds like. The band are called MOURNING, the album’s called Disenlightenment and it has a central overarching theme of “distrust, exhaustion and contempt of living in the modern western world.” If the UK churns out much more of this miserable metallic hardcore it’ll probably need its own Wikipedia page, which, you know, is when you’ve really made it as a subgenre. We’ll probably have to come up with a better name for it first – miserycore anyone? – but in the meantime if you want another 20-minute dive into the abyss once you’re done with the likes of HELPLESS and GRIEF RITUAL then the sophomore album from these bruisers will absolutely do the trick.
Perhaps more so than a lot of metallic hardcore bands, MOURNING really aren’t afraid to get properly ‘metal’ here. Hit play on the opening title track for example and you’ll likely think you’ve found the best sounding record ever to emerge from the Scandinavian black metal scene of the 90s as the band launch swiftly into a volley of blast beats and vaguely dissonant tremolo-picking. There’s plenty more of that across the seven tracks to follow, albeit balanced out by just as many death metally riffs and bruising chug-heavy breakdowns as the band ensure all sides of the equation receive largely equal representation here. The quality climbs steadily as we proceed into Cancer Incarnate and Non Future Decree – both early, groove-heavy highlights
It all sounds great too, especially the guitars whose bite becomes abundantly clear in the tremolo riffing and monstrous closing breakdown of Unhonoured Prophecy. It’s exactly what you’d expect from the mixing and mastering pairing of Andy Nelson and Brad Boatright to be fair, with the duo’s stacked CVs including work for the likes of 156/SILENCE, FOREIGN HANDS and KNOLL to name just a few recent favourites. They capture the band with potent clarity, allowing bass, drums and guitars to lay a sturdy bedrock on which vocalist Connor can deliver their pained and hawkish screams and shouts.
Like a lot of these records, Disenlightenment is a little lacking in respite. Only seventh track Foreboding offers any real departure from the band’s metallic attack, doing what it says on the tin with a brief interlude whose various plucked and paddy synths do feel a touch dated if we’re being harsh. Perhaps MOURNING would’ve been better just to power through to the end, as this really isn’t a long record, and there’s still plenty of fun to be had either side with the melodeathy headbanging of Desert Of The Spirit and the BOLT THROWER-sized riffs of closer Grievance Ascends.
Ultimately though, all is really as it should be here. Short, hard, sharp and furious, this is metallic hardcore that is likely to work just as well for metalheads as it will for hardcore kids, which is actually rarer than you’d think. With bases covered everywhere from MAYHEM to MADBALL, you’d be silly not to find 20 minutes for this one.
Rating: 7/10
Disenlightenment is set for release on November 15th via Streets Of Hate.
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