Mournful Congregation / Book Of Kings

20 Buck Spin

Following a prologue in the form of The Unspoken Hymns, a compilation of out-of-print tracks released by 20 Buck Spin in September, Mournful Congregation presents The Book of Kings. This landmark release in the extreme doom subgenre is a journey, just shy of 80 minutes long, through both imperial nobility and crestfallen, tarnished hope. “The Catechism of Depression” opens the book with a slowly developing, grief-stricken dirge that twists and writhes beautifully for almost 20 minutes. It flows into “The Waterless Streams,” a song that betrays the band’s prog influences with a stunning, stadium-worthy opening guitar lead before the impossibly heavy main riff bears down over a more spoken vocal chant. “The Bitter Veils of Solemnity” stays quietly dark and cleanly melodic for its entire twelve-minute duration—an accomplished composition of stark vision and beauty by incredible songwriters. Those three tracks alone would compose an impressive album of material, and yet the jewel in the crown comes in the form of the album’s fourth and final track: the album-length “The Book of Kings.” A monument in extreme / funeral doom’s history, it weaves a tale of regality through the life, crowning, dethronement and death of nameless kings. A song so painstakingly involved has rarely been attempted, and never with such glorious results. An immersive track within which to lose one’s self. The Book of Kings is the pinnacle in Mournful Congregation’s long history, dating back nearly 20 years, and an album that will be identified in years to come as the standard by which others shall be judged.

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