Prepare to the light those ritual candles, pull out the occult books and turn the stereo up to full volume, as Mournful Cries shall be the soundtrack to your ceremony of unholy doom. The bands new EP, “Thy Horror Come,” reaches across the reverb filled valleys and takes you on a journey through mountainous riff landscapes where giants dwell wearing Sleep and Saint Vitus t-shirts.
Having known the guys in Mournful Cries for a decent amount of time now, I am starting to hear their sound truly take on a unique and distinct form. What started out as friends jamming on some Sabbath like sounding riffs has evolved into a vehicle of unapologetic doom. The trio from Santa Rosa, CA keeps hammering out killer riffs while crafting some strong pieces of music. I thought the songwriting and presentation of the songs on the new EP really stood out. Also, the band’s overall energy was perfectly captured on both tracks.
In my opinion, Mournful Cries excels the most when pertaining to their riff crafting abilities. When guitarist Luis Olguin lays down a wicked sounding riff, both drummer Alex Hernandez and bassist Matt Lasserre follow along with a powerful rhythmic backbone. Luis is able to strike these simple yet heavy chord progressions out and ultimately construct a mushroom cloud of distorted sounding terror that seeps through your speakers.
The two songs, “Hallowed Tomb” and “Witches Herbs,” are well written tracks and bring to the table a massive helping of bone chilling doom. Compared to your stereotypical doom metal bands, Mournful Cries is focused on trying to create a solid musical foundation and sound that can be explored further. The thirteen plus minute song, “Witches Herbs,” demonstrates a band that can take a simple riff and expand on the idea for a long period of time yet not lose the listener’s interest. I thought that the other track, “Hallowed Tomb,” contained a very horror like atmosphere which reminded me of material from Electric Wizard and Cathedral. Plus the beginning riff has that Iommi like flare and then explodes into a massive jam of relentless sounding attitude from each musician.
I look forward to what the band has coming up for doom fanatics in the future and I believe they are making strides in the right direction. They just need to continue hammering out those riffs and seeing where they can take their ideas. Also, I recommend taking their time and making sure the overall recording captures what they are truly wanting to express. Don’t feel like you need to release something just to release something. There are too many bands like that around right now and the quality of music has suffered at the hands of people making mediocre recordings. I believe in the end that Mournful Cries has the passion and inner spirit to unleash a killer doom album. “Thy Horror Come,” is the perfect starting point to set course and aim for that ultimate killer album of monumental doom. Definitely check it out!
Check out the EP below:
Mournful Cries FB Page:
https://www.facebook.com/MournfulCries/
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