I had quite some difficulty getting into this record. As my fans here (whahaha!!) probably know, I usually don't like funeral doom, nor do I like black metal. But Mourning Dawn’s self titled album has two sides to it. I’ll start with the bad part. This one sentence in the booklet says it all; ‘all music on this record composed and played by Laurent.’ I believe he actually recorded the guitars, bass and vocals, but you can't fool me with those drums man. That’s some horribly programmed shit (I think). At first glance you don’t really notice it, because you have to see through the harsh environment the music puts you in, but with a closer listen you immediately notice the horrible sound of the crashes. They keep sounding the same, and that really bothers me. And considering that this is an album that lasts for almost an hour, one tends to get annoyed by this fact.

 

Now for the positive part of the review. First of all there are a lot of intermezzos in the music that I really like. Gone with distorted guitars, just put in a piano or something else with a more subtle undertone to it. Those are nice parts, that still have an eerie atmosphere to it, so a real change in style isn’t made. Furthermore the songs remind me of Sunn 0)))’s Black One album, and it takes a lot for me to drop such a name in a review. Because of the more grim black metal orientated funeral doom tracks, a dark and depressing vibe flows through the music. It’s just too bad that the programmed drums fuck it up for me.

 

But still, announced is the fact that Laurent and his Mourning Dawn now possess a full line-up, so we can hope for releases with a more vivid and natural sound to it. We’ll see what the future brings for these French guys.