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Released on August 17, 2015 via Indepedent
Image is an odd thing. It can make or break a band, it can be hugely divisive, especially where the band in question uses uniforms, masks or facepaint. Sometimes it works and captures the attention of the masses, ala Slipknot, sometimes it fails and the band in question slips quietly into obscurity. Mushroomhead, anyone? So a promo shot with smartly dressed gentlemen, replete with waistcoats and manic expressions on faces streaked in black make-up is potentially a double edged sword, inviting judgement before the play button is even pressed. In this case, however, it’s worth suspending judgement until after the battering that is A Monster in Mourning has played through, otherwise you might be missing out on something quite special.
Gehtika make a particularly venomous brand of evil black metal influenced noise, played through a modern metal prism – by that I mean there’s not a touch of ‘kvlt’ about it. It demonstrates a very clear black metal influence, but noticeably more of Cradle of Filth (minus the histrionics) than anyone that may have actually burned a church, but it also aligns to the middle ground with touches of Lamb of God style groove, Black Dahlia Murder style extreme metal and touches of death and thrash timing and the occasional riff that harks more to a metalcore background. This sounds a little on the generic side – but bear with me. Let’s make it worse, shall we? A Monster in Mourning is a concept album – another tickbox on my hitlist of ‘things that make me wary’, usually because they are normally pretentious and overblown, and more to the point, so rarely actually deliver on their concept.
Ok then, so where is the redemption? Simple, the redemption is in just how much fun this album is. Everything is turned up to eleven – the riffs shred, the beats blast, the solos are ridiculously face melty – it’s like the band just decided to red-line everything, and in that way it’s perfect in its simplicity. It’s just so viciously relentless and single minded as a body of work that you can’t help but fall in love with it a little bit. The band is clearly having fun with every aspect of the record, all the little touches, most notable in the percussion and some of the inspired guitar work, and this pulls the listener along with it through the rollercoaster 11 tracks; it’s exactly what metal should be, a little ridiculous, but balls-out, pedal-down, the most fun you’ll have with your trousers on. I appreciate I mixed metaphors there, with the balls-out / trousers on thing, but the point is that with this record, that sort of thing just does not matter anymore.
Like all good concept albums, A Monster in Mourning starts with a synth-piano led introduction (in this case ‘Apollyon’) before the madness begins – I normally deeply dislike these intros, but it’s hugely in-keeping with the album and works well – building to a crescendo to kick ‘One Night, Seven Sins’ off in magnificent Scandinavian black metal style, all sweeping solos, pounding drums and guttural vocals. From there on in there is no respite until the closing strains of ‘A Halo of Crows’. Highlights include the frankly brutal ‘Stack the Pyres’, a previous single in possession of some nasty riffs and which forms the foundation for the storyline, which centres on a character tortured by remorse and tormented by his conscience over past crimes, the epic title track and the speedy, almost chirpy ‘The Massaquerade’, which is about a massacre at a masquerade ball. The latter brings such an incongruously upbeat set of riffs, it’s almost impossible not to smile.
The best thing about music is its power to elicit emotion in a listener. This album is engaging, brutally heavy, fast, furious and above all, fun. It’s not possible to put this record on as background music without it rearing up and demanding your full attention; producer Owen Davies deserves some of the credit here – his mix is just so alive it fairly leaps from the speakers, grabs the listener by the throat and beats them into submission. The complex mix of busy drums, guitars, solos and vocals never gets muddy and is never less than razor sharp.
There are records out there that re-affirm faith in the simple, almost primal visceral connection that metal is capable of; this is one of those records. Get past the make-up, get past the concept, stop sneering, pick up this album and reconnect with your inner metal fan. You’ll be much happier for it.
