It’s not often we get music from Georgia to review and even rarer that bands from the country come to play here live. I was caught napping when Psychonaut 4 popped over to perform a show on route to a festival in Mexico as I didn’t realise just how popular they were and cursed as it sold out. Luckily managing to procure a spare just hours before the gig I found their brand of depressive blackness and dark rock an absolutely entrancing experience. Even without lead singer Graf having not made the jaunt and Nocturnal Depression’s Cédric Giordani filling his place, I think it’s fair to say everyone was pretty much overawed as they dished out their potent brew of ‘Tbilisian Tragedy.’ Also I couldn’t help but observe that like fellow depressives Forgotten Tomb they played Stooges number ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ as a finale which left everyone far from miserable as we left… But it’s new album .. Of Mourning we turn our attention to now.

The follow up from 2020 predecessor ‘Beautyfall’ sees the group signed to new label IFP and described as “a record filled with sadness, desperation, Solitude and yet filled with hope.” With that in mind it’s time to grab a front pew for an emotionally packed journey.

Short opener ‘Ghele’ has a sorrowful and traditional sounding acoustic guitar melody complete with the sound of sobbing just to get you in the mood before the five more weighty numbers follow with a signature death grunt paving the way. ‘Mzeo Amodi’ moves into a jubilant swagger and pumps up the listener with that aforementioned “hope” surging through it. Snarls and rasps accompany but are far from the only vocal discourse. There are plenty of patches of clean singing on the album and the best description of these I can give is that they feel “devotional” in approach. We are left with the mystery of what everything is about as they are delivered in home tongue, track titles too are difficult to translate but someone has been helpful on a message board stating this is loosely about the hope of the sun rising on a new day and the joy of it is all over this, the sweeping solo at culmination nothing short of glorious. ‘Fiqrebi Mtsukhrisa’ complete with contribution from Harakiri From The Skies’ MS turns to darker thoughts and days. The fact it has some sounds of a tannoy announcement and a moribund feeling of gloom about it has me pessimistically envisaging someone throwing themselves under a train (I wrote this before watching the accompanying video). Complete with screams of angst and trembling guitar riffs it both rattles down the tracks and presents some beautiful almost orchestral melody over those ever-fragrant clean vocals really worming its way into your head in the process.

‘Vai Me’ contrasts clean vocals of a more baritone nature along with the higher etched snarls along with another wonderful melodic refrain. It sends shivers down the spine and has a glistening gothic sensibility drawing you into its folds. It feels like a long goodbye with a handful of dirt as mourners say farewell over a freshly dug grave. ‘Sizmrebshi’ is as suggested a dreamy sojourn, floating on an almost medicated numbness, low bass rumbling suggesting someone content to snore away. Nightmares certainly protrude with the ever increasing screams and some spoken words suggest a deeply personal song is unfolding here. No ignoring the fact but final number ‘Dzilis Tsameba’ opens with a rhythm and slow bounce that is reminiscent of the likes of Lifelover adding some majestic airy vocals, hefty drum barrage and stormy dramatics before the album culminates returning to close to where it all began at least musically seeming to tie up all the loose ends.

Delivering pretty much everything that the band’s statement hinted at this is a profound statement that won’t leave the listener unaffected and contemplating just what they have listened to. It might not be for everyone but judging by that concert the reach of the music certainly goes further than anticipated and plenty will no doubt engage with this gorgeous exercise in Georgian grief.

(8.5/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/psychonaut4.official

https://immortalfrostproductions1.bandcamp.com/album/of-mourning