Artist: Mournful Congregation
Country: Australia
Label: Osmose Productions / 20 Buck Spin
Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD
Year: 2023
We live in a time where everything happens so fast, where all contacts seem fleeting and there seems to be no more attention to substance and depth. Spotify and YouTube, however convenient, also make a negative contribution in the pitch culture in which we find ourselves. Who these days still takes the time to properly listen to and peruse a piece of music, and who, for that matter, still takes the time to read these kinds of contemplations…. We are all “guilty” of it to a greater or lesser extent, but it is therefore all the more of a relief when then a band like Mournful Congregation comes along again.
The Australian band is like a friend you don’t see that often, but when he comes to visit it feels so emotionally familiar, as if you’ve never let go of each other. It is a band that always takes their time, never releasing an album every year, but, equal to the pace of its music, delivering a true gem every now and then. Last year, the band released the first part of this diptych, which had some (slightly) critical comments to make, now with this, we have the closing piece: ‘The Exuviae Of Gods – Part II’.
Although the aforementioned criticisms are still in effect to some extent, but for now it is mainly that old love that prevails, it really convincingly proves once again: old love never dies. On this EP, which still has a playing time of 40 minutes, we find another retake of an old song. On ‘… Part II’, the band finished with a remake of the last song from their 1995 ‘An Epic Dream Of Desire’ demo tape. Now they have chosen to start with the opening track from that same demo. You can argue about the sense or nonsense of re-recording old songs, but you can leave it to Mournful Congregation to do it with so much care and love that you can’t really conclude anything about the result other than that they pulled it (again). You might still prefer the slightly rougher and bleaker sound of the original, but in the companionship of the two other songs on this EP, the slightly updated sound really fits seamlessly. Although there is no (as good as) acoustic interlude on ‘… Part II’, as there is on the first part of this twin EP, all three of these songs have enough acoustic pieces to keep both EP’s nicely in line with each other and to secure that distinctive and dizzying dynamic that Mournful Congregation is known for. This EP’s highlight is definitely the 18-plus-minute ‘The Paling Crest’ which is of such breathtakingly beauty that it can undoubtedly be considered among the best works of this Australian monument to date.
As always, Mournful Congregation leads you along the abyss with their agonisingly slow and bottomless melancholy, leaving you staring into it, but always grabbing you by your neck just in time and bringing you back to your senses via those beautiful acoustic passages. That tidal-like up-and-down dynamic, makes Mournful Congregation an absolutely unique band that looks out on the ever-busier life on its lonely heights full of misapprehension. Mournful Congregation is like that somewhat strange friend, from a past you can really only recall in his company. A friend who gives you a moment of reflection and makes you see everything more in perspective, a friend whom you love more and more despite those sometimes painful conclusions.
