Band:	Mournful Congregation
Album:	The Monad Of Creation
Style:	Funeral doom metal
Release date:	2005
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Mother - Water, The Great Sea Wept
02. As I Drown In Loveless Rain
03. When The Weeping Dawn Beheld Its Mortal Thirst
04. The Monad Of Creation

Australia might not have so many doom metal bands, but has given birth to the almighty disEMBOWELMENT and has some really well-known bands like the atmospheric doom metal band Avrigus, the theatric gothic/doom metal act Virgin Black and the cult funeral doom metal beast Mournful Congregation.

During 2005 Mournful Congregation managed to return with a new release (which in fact consists of tracks composed during the 1994-2004 era), the almighty 4-track full-length album "The Monad Of Creation", but hey, don't let the number of the songs full you, it's funeral doom we're talking about, so I guess you got the secret message that the album will accompany you for a bit more than an hour with its lurking melodies. What? Did I just say melodies? Oh yes, I said it and it's true, Mournful Congregation have a melodious approach on funeral doom. No, this doesn't mean that they are a sold out band, they are slower than the process of lung cancer, unearthly and powerful when they need to, but a sense of melody on the guitar work is always present to add a beautiful tone in the overall mourning atmosphere.

I have to admit that their music evokes me to at times a ritual-like feeling, so devout, so tranquil, almost death-like, like on a lonely funeral. And this imposing drumming that creates walls of sound is so awesome, it holds very tight the compositions, so simplistic yet so undeniably appropriate for the sound of the band! The guitar work is exceptional, weaving so slowly and so gently their mourning overtures they terrorize so elegantly your senses that you can't deny their call. Whether they offer melodic ultra slow riffing or sound a bit more powerful or unleash their really remarkable acoustic passages they never fail to magnetize the interest of the listener. A slight use of Skepticism-like keyboards appears very few times and enriches the sound of the band with an almost ecclesiastic touch. The deep grunting or eerily reciting/whispering vocals evoke the ideal wailing feeling whenever they enter the compositions, completing this way the quintessence of Mournful Congregation.

Mournful Congregation is a band that tends to form its own sound in the scene, something really remarkable and difficult as well since almost everything seems to have been set up for a decade's time now or so. In my opinion it's their special guitar work that distinguishes them from other bands of the scene, they really have worked a lot on this factor in order to have a personal melodic but definitely slow approach on their guitars.

Well, "The Monad Of Creation" is a must-have release for all the funeral doom adorers, thumbs up!