Band:	Deinonychus
Album:	Mournument
Style:	Black metal, Doom metal
Release date:	2002

01. Pluto's Ovoid Orbit
02. Salus Deceived
03. Odourless Alliance
04. Tantalised In This Labyrinth
05. The Crimson Tides-Oceans Of Soliloquy Pt. II
06. Selek From Menes
07. A Misleading Scenario
08. The Obscure Process Of Metamorphous
09. Arrival In Mesopotamia
10. Ancient Dreams [Candlemass cover]
11. Ascension: The 40th Day After Easter

The 1997-2000 ("Ark Of Thought" - "Deinonychus") era filled the band with the ideal experience and potential to reach their third period and take their sound steps further and make it more affected. 2002 arrives and the moment for "Mournument" to get released is right, the world is about to cherish one of the deepest wounds in the shape of a sound journey, a wound well-kept in the abyss of Marco Kehren's inner self, waiting for the right moment to unleash it's plague to the world.

Well, "Ark Of Thought" and "Deinonychus" had a good production, not the best they deserved but a production definitely pacing with the overall atmosphere of those albums. On "Mournument" is the first time Deinonychus finally have the production they deserve, a more modern production helping the instruments be more vivid in the final outcome, yet without ruining the desolate beauty of the compositions. The song structure becomes more affected and a will for some more experimental passages is vivid (the vocals on "Ascention - The 40th Day After Easter" for example) and along with the fact that Marco Kehren has matured a lot in the composing factor throughout the years we get to cherish parts of Deinonychus never explored before, seeing the sound of the band progress positively.

This time Marco Kehren embraces a more doom/death metal way of expression (something that became way more vivid on "Insomnia" [2004]), keeping though traces of the black metal essence of the previous releases of Deinonychus in part of the guitar work and, of course, the vocals! On this album Deinonychus, except for the best production up to date, have their best drumming interpretation as well, William Sarginson sounds unerring and interprets in any possible tempo without forgetting to offer here and there some really creative and inspired drumming passages, something very positive!

Marco Kehren for one more time sounds stunning, being one of the three most important parts consisting of what we call Deinonychus sound (the other two being the atmosphere of the music and the lyrics). His grunts have such an intense and powerful approach whereas his painful and desolate or terrifying screams never fail to send shivers down your spine and let's not forget the cold, almost lifeless, recites or the wailing almost crying laments that are pure pleas for a caring soul to appear and ease the burden. The lyrics for one more time are deep, poetic, esoteric, filled with sorrow and despair and they turn to life in the most ideal way through Kehren's intense and dissonant vocal lines. The keyboard melodies float like a condemned soul's dying breath in the air, evoking a devout and death-like tranquility or a more distressing feeling in the air, the rhythm section lends groove and holds tight the compositions in the most ideal way and the guitars forge the empire of doom with their inspired mourning riffing on which Marco Kehren's tormented screams will step and conceal all hope on the horizon.

Amongst all these beautiful bleeding monumental compositions lies an unexpected yet always welcome surprise, a cover version of "Ancient Dreams" (Candlemass). Deinonychus kept the original vibe of the song and managed to lend it a more eerie approach with the whispering vocal lines and menacing guitar sound, a really good opinion on such a legendary composition.

"Mournument" is just another classic dark/doom-death metal album to haunt your night-time with bloodstained melodies/stories, just press the "play" button and open the gates to oblivion!