Mourned – “Rift Ripper”
Mourn- “Feel or show deep sorrow or regret for someone or their death, typically following conventions such as the wearing of black clothes.”
And here I was thinking that all those folks at shows with black t-shirts were metal headbangers!
Perhaps they’re all mourning the death of boy bands. You know, like ‘N Sync, Backstreet Boys and Boyz II Men. I know I am.
Or perhaps it’s for my brain cells, overwhelmed by the constant barrage of alcohol as I’ve just realized, by doing a search on our site, that I’ve reviewed Mourned before, but don’t recall it.
But, of course, this was a few years back when, in fact, they were a boy band. A death metal boy band, in fact. Which I enjoyed, what with the choreographed dance moves nicely complimenting the fierce, brutal, death metal music- it was heaven to my ears! (Though hell, to my private parts!)
But, of course, none of that is true.
What is true is Mourned is a great, death metal band. Sure, they throw in tags like hardcore and punk, but they seem satisfied as describing themselves simply as death metal.
And besides being more than happy with their music, I’m happy with that description, as well. Though, I do see influences of doom and grindcore in their music.
But sadly, at least for me- no boy band influence.
But let’s check them out:
“A Dictum, Mute” starts with the melodious vocals familiar with much pop music, that is, if the singer’s vocals chords have been fed through a shredder or meat grinder. That choppy, death metal growl moves menacingly along with a dangerously, ominous beat. Soon the chorus descends into an even more gloomy, doom-y vibe that would surely alienate the participants of “Dancing With The Stars.” The intense vocals continue to spew venom, now over a great, industrial vibe. And when the tempo increases, a trilling guitar riff evolves into an excellent, discordant, flamenco like guitar solo while the song digs deeper into it’s heavy, awesome groove. Great tune.
With a stuttering, rhythm guitar passage, “Striated Hive” struts in with a solid, rhythm section and powerful, brash, death vocals accentuated by some effective, sharp, staccato guitar chords. Halfway thru the song the rhythm is dragged down into an even more powerful, dense dirge that triples the intensity. Another great song.
“Orison,” starts with a bouncy beat and a short, guitar lead answered by some guttural death vocals. The rhythm pulls up in the chorus only to relent to a pounding, one hit beat in the next verse. More them halfway through there’s a breakdown with the vocals regurgitating their bile over a rock solid, industrial beat. A great, guitar solo- fluid and dissonant spirals in, only to be cut short by one foreboding, sustained chord- another great one.
“Rift Ripper” rips in with a thrash like guitar backing a full aural assault of a vicious vocal attack upon your ears. There’s a part where a rolling drum beat is met with an effective, three note, wailing guitar response, all while the brooding vocals loom threateningly above. A heavy, chugging instrumental part follows but soon we fall into a vast, slow, stark wasteland that suggest the sound of lost souls in the universe. The chugging part chugs back in again, the vocals cough up another lung and an echo drenched guitar repeats those three notes from the beginning to signify the end of this great song, my favorite on the EP.
My brain cells seem to have evaporated but so has the earlier recording that I reviewed.
It could be that the earlier recording, merely drank too much, but I’m thinking- they’ve removed that as they feel they’ve moved onward. That they feel that it’s not representative of them, anymore.
But though my brain sadly mourns the death of so many brain cells, and boy bands, I feel that Mourned should be proud of how much they’ve progressed as there is some mention of traditional metal in my initial review.
I’m guessing that they’ve improved and moved closer towards their vision. All I can tell you is this is some great, local metal music that ranks with any and all of the best metal bands we cover.
But me? I’m just sitting here, taking another sip. Watching the webmaster of my brain, select several more brain cells and, reluctantly, press delete.
I suppose it’s just a matter of time before they’re all depleted.
But before they go, they want you to know-
Mourned is a mighty, fine metal band.
(Slimedog)
