‘Mysterium II’ in comparison is a lot more drawn out, funereal you might say, without diving head long into funeral doom though.
The album opens with what is possibly the heaviest track the band has ever written, to the point that the riffs on ‘The Divine Duty of Servants’ would not have been out of place on Cathedral’s legendary debut ‘Forest of Equilibrium’. Add to that a very jazzy sounding sax that seeps in halfway through, and it’s becoming abundantly clear that this more melancholic approach is not just about rehashing the slower songs from ‘Solar Lovers’. Much more than the first instalment, they are really try to break new ground here, while still adhering to their doom era aesthetics.
The next track ‘Tommorow Mourning’ is the kind of tongue in cheek wordplay that Peter Steele was known for in Type O Negative. Here the emotive interplay of violin and cello really comes to the fore, with the guitars forming the rhythmic foundation for the tear inducing strings to thrive upon. Along the way, it even picks up some Spanish guitar that goes over into a dreamy Floydesque section.
‘Our Nocturnal Love’ is an instrumental, piano led interlude that leads into ‘In April Darkness’, which has some fantastic Paradise Lost style twin guitar leads.
‘The Sun The Moon and the Truth’ showcases some particularly razor-sharp riffage that feels almost blackish in its bleak execution, after which it switches gear to more shoegazy, yet equally apt My Bloody Valentine evoking guitar hissing.
‘Pictures of Endless Beauty Copper Sunset’, being the longest track on offer here, brings the album to a close with the trademark elements of doom-laden lead guitars, interwoven with weeping violins. Probably the most easily recognizable, signature sounding song of the entire record.
Celestial Season is clearly on an inspirational high. Can’t wait to hear the conclusion of this trilogy.
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REVIEW SCORE
| 9.2 | After showing their more up-tempo side earlier this year with ‘Mysterium I’, part II is really manna from heaven for those who like their doom funereal and slow. |
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