MOURNFUL CONGREGATION

The days spent recording MOURNFUL CONGREGATION's "The June Frost" must have been overcast, painfully gloomy, and, somehow, frigidly cold (yes, in Australia). "The June Frost" just has that feel about it, all 60 minutes of its crushingly depressive and strangely alluring funeral doom. It's a keeper too, but you might want to get a jumpstart on those suicide notes before grabbing a copy.

It is slow, it is dark, and it is suffocating in its sorrow, yet it also majestic and beautiful in its arrangements, provided you allow "The June Frost" time to sink deep into your pores. This is still funeral doom, but it is not CATACOMBS either; rather, lush melody and rich colors are contained within its painstakingly crawling rhythms and weighty riffs. In other words, it is more MOURNING BELOVETH than CATACOMBS. When soaked up like a sponge in the "chill" position with earphones in place you will be in the best position to discover the album's magical aura, starting with the very first track, an ominous, yet tranquilizing piece called "Solemn Strikes the Funeral Chime" (and funeral chimes are indeed struck). Sections of measured acoustic strumming, lonely lead guitar lines, sparing use of cavernous growls and eerie spoken bits here and there in the background join gigantic riffs and choral-like effects so chilling that not even an extra layer of clothes and an extra blanket will keep out the cold.

Perhaps the best example of the craft is heard on the 17-minute "White Cold Wrath Burnt Frozen Blood", which is absolutely breathtaking in its delivery. Even at a snail's pace, the morose melodies, vocal echoes, and pristine guitar harmonies nearly bring tears to the eyes, even as you are obviously being pulled deeper and deeper to the black abyss. You really need to make the time to sit down and enjoy this one though. You just can't toss it in the player any 'ole time or listen to it in 10-minute sections; you need to immerse yourself in it. This is certainly one of the better funeral doom releases I've heard in some time. "The June Frost" may not make a believer out of those with distaste for this segment of the doom genre, but it may actually push a few fence-sitters over to this side of the yard.