From Dust to Rust … my first encounter with Irish doomsters was their 2001 album “Dust”, after the band came to my attention on recommendation and I bought it. This one is now album number 6. Inevitable comparisons can be made with My Dying Bride, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but I find that Mourning Beloveth’s portrayal of gloom has a distinctive graininess.
And so it is with “Rust and Bone”. After a briefly scene-setting reflective opening, the sixteen minute “Godether” plunges us into the rasping and harsh territory of tears and funereal gloom. Imagine standing on a rock looking melancholically out on to the Irish sea. The harshness gives way to beauty as the scene patiently unfolds. The haunting ring in the background gives a mystical side to it. Compared to “Dust”, this album has an extended range which enhances the overall feel. I found it was more about sensation that solitude. Suddenly “Godether” bursts into violence, as if the bleak day turns to a stormy night. The acoustic “Rust” takes on a mysterious air, but it is a short experience as “The Mantle Tomb” starts like another immovable slab. To my surprise, a plaintive voice rises above the monolithic structure before the familiar return to growls and the interconnecting struggle between dark forces. The plaintive voice responds with ethereal lines about drifting, light and destruction. Then rich and instrumental sadness prevails as the sorry tale draws agonisingly to a close. “Rust” provides another short but seemingly meaningless interlude before the folksy “A Terrible Beauty is Born”. Acoustic strains pump out, the drum beats softly and all in all the hippie-like song speaks sombrely of nature and birth. It is a step change in mood from the hard hitting slabs which go before it.
Mourning Beloveth prove here that there are different ways of expressing the doom genre. Without doubt the interest of “Rust and Bone” lies in exploiting a range of gloomy and dark soundscapes and emotions.
(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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