It’s a Saturday night. I’ve just had a really good time with friends over for dinner, drinks, a good movie, and a good chat. The house is now silent, with mates away and my better half abed, and I am full of a fair few pints of scrumpy. What the fuck has that got to do with you favouring the site you have been kind enough to click to, I metaphorically hear you ask? Well, it is only now that after all the positive support I’ve had tonight that I am able to even contemplate hitting a keyboard and committing my review of Eric Wagner’s last ever album to words as opposed to having it chase endlessly around my mind.
In my own personal opinion, Eric Wagner is one of the greatest ever metal vocalists, and massively underappreciated too. No, he does not have the clarity and sustain of Dio. No, he does not have the range and power of Halford. What, however, he does have, is an unmatchable ability to convey emotion and vulnerability, and this posthumously released album, ‘In The Lonely Light of Mourning’, is a testament to that capacity. Firstly, before I delve into the body of this review, let me apologise to the assembly of respected musicians who lent their talents to this album; the fact that I will not give them even the most passing of mentions is in no way meant to belittle their talents. It is just the fact that this is the last work we will hear by Eric Wagner, barring some sort of raid on hitherto unknown musical storage tombs, that means their needs must play a very much second fiddle.
The album commences with the scarily prophetic ‘Rest In Place’, and after the opening of mournful bass, staggering drums, and Troublesque guitar power chords, the lamented Mr Wagner chimes in with his voice from beyond the grave, each clearly pronounced syllable plucking at the heart strings with a melancholy assault. ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ continues onwards with the beautiful gloom, every lyric delivered with a pain and sorrow that plucks at the heart strings, and if you were wanting a respite from having your emotions wrung out, don’t look to the succeeding ‘If You Lost It All’ as here you will find nothing but sorrowful introspection, albeit delivered accompanied by a neck wrenching beat.
‘Strain Theory’ opens with a battery of unmatched riffs that support Mr Wagner’s dark vocals, since if this were to be played in a club to an audience of suitably chemically chilled fans the sadness of the lyrics would be secondary to the foot stomping hooks of the music. As it is, knowing that this album is the be all and end all of his work, every desire to pump a fist in the air feels almost like a betrayal. Again, let me exclaim that this LP is so hard to review as the joy that the music brings me, and I know, there is a bizarre dichotomy in declaring “DOOM MUSIC” as joyous, but listening to the album has me torn between enjoying the music, and lamenting the fact I won’t ever hear it played live. ‘Walk With Me To The Sun’ offers no emotional respite, and title track ‘In The Lonely Light Of Mourning’ staggers along in darkness, just as the staggering drum beat dances around the bewitchingly desolate vocals. The all too short thirty seven minutes of the album finishes with the coda of ‘I Wish You Well’, a number that contrasts to the Doom (and the capital “D” is truly deserved) of preceding tracks on the album with its hard rock stomp, a musical exhortation to live life to the full sent from beyond the void by one of metal’s most sadly under lauded singers.
‘In The Light Of Mourning’ is truly one of the most difficult releases I’ve ever had to review. In another universe where Eric Wagner was alive and preparing for a tour to promote this album I’d be full of joy at the prospect of hearing these tunes delivered live on stage. The fact that this underappreciated titan of Doom is no longer alive to preach his message lends an all too sad poignancy to the album. Whilst we will not have the privilege of hearing these songs sung onstage by the man himself, at least we have the chance to immerse ourselves in the LP, and I can only commend anyone reading this to purchase it and to do so.
(9.5/10 Spenny)
Leave a Reply