Mirthless: A Dirge for Your Suicide

The promo materials for this album make an interesting claim: "Real doom has to be felt. It has to bewail and it has to hurt." I can't say I've thought of Doom metal in such stark terms before; I know that the music is often about death and loss and despair, but I also know that it is somehow more than that, something that brings people together, a form of entertainment, even of enjoyment.

Still, this album honestly hurts from time to time. Check out, for example, the moaning and wailing sounds from the first 90 seconds or so on the title track. That kind of lamentation, it seems to me, can only come from a real source, not something manufactured in a studio or developed outside of real grief. No, this is the sound of real human sadness, cries of injustice, uncertainty, and despair. When the music kicks in—and it doesn't come soon enough, in my opinion—it helps provide a little distance. I'm not sure whether the band members think of their music as an extension of those grief-stricken cries, but they certainly don't let listeners forget that "A Dirge for Your Suicide" is not just an attention-grabbing title.

The rest of the album is a consistent offering of doom metal played well. I especially liked the way Mirthless tends to push things during the last third of most of their songs. After several minutes of really heavy doom, the band often shifts toward a slightly different mood and tempo, one that is slightly more riffy and groovy. To me, this shift suggested an affirmation of life, a celebration that things go on even in the face of death. I'm probably wrong in saying that, but I needed something—the illusion of hope, at least—at the end of listening to this one. Check it out—this is strong and brutal stuff.

Track Listing:
1. Pantheon of Disgraces
2. Prelude to Doomsday
3. A Dirge for Your Suicide
4. Paz
5. Prelude to Doomsday (Rehearsal)

Added: August 10th 2013
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Label Page
Hits: 1772
Language: english

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