08.23
Format: CD
Release Date: 10.04.2008
Country: Ukraine
Genre: Gothic Doom Death
Mournful Gust – a well known Ukrainian group come back with a new album after an eight-year break! The debut album was issued in 2000 on MC and has been rereleased on CD in 2005 by Soyuz/Metal Agen. Today the group comes back with the new material, combining such styles as: gothic metal, death/doom and elements of the European folk-music. The sated melodies are filled with parts of live flute. The voice of the vocalist (known from his work with Autumnia) transfers a rich palette of feelings and experiences, which have been put in pawn in the English-speaking lyrics, passing from clear singing, to growl.
The addition of a 24 page booklet makes this disk a unique eye catcher with pit art.
Tracklist:
1. A Pain To Remember
2. It’s Our Own Tragedy
3. To Your Deceits…Again
4. From Illusions And Jealousy
5. The Cold Solitude
6. With Every Suffering
7. Honey For My Wounds
8. Recover Me In Sores
Review
Maelstorm
8.3/10
Ever since we reviewed She’s My Grief and interviewed Mournful Gust, the four pre-mixed tracks from The Frankness Eve, downloaded from Mournful Gust’s website, didn’t leave this writer’s computer. They were needed. Lonely nights were better knowing that in those rough, yet special moments of isolation the tracks’ company could be relied on. Sad, straightforward and brutally honest, they were always there. Especially “The Cold Solitude,” which was learned by heart. And now, the album is finally here.
First impression, the one involving the artwork: beautiful. Forget about symbolic, minimalist, modern imagery, this one is elaborated on all levels, with an obsessive attention paid to every single small detail. Each song has a theme, an enigmatic but real image to look at, and the whole thing has an aged and exquisite appearance. Even the non-metal people I’ve shown it to were impressed by the booklet, and awed by the Mournful Gust logo circling on the bottom, silver side of the disc. Yes, every possible detail.
The impressions about the music had to wait. The Frankness Eve isn’t a CD to be evaluated after one spin. Mournful Gust have spent a considerable time writing it (and recording it from January to September 2007). The ideas were probably clear from the start, but, during the creative process, everything that could have been improved, embellished, or added, was taken into consideration and applied. Most of the time, in this collection of delicate sorrowful waltzes, there’s even too much going on. The guitars are seductive, the keyboards solemn, the flute gentle and memorable, and it seems that every drum beat was meticulously calculated. The Frankness Eve needs time to sink in, but it is worth it. And, to make the appreciation learning process easier, its passion commands attention.
The details might be delicate, yes, but we’re talking about an Ukrainian band here. Everything is laid plain before you, forceful, and although slow, almost aggressive. Mournful Gust are loud, deliberate and above all, strong. Not strong as in “macho” but, if you really feel something, why wrap it in blankets and try to make it distant? Just say it, like this band does. Strong, as in “strong, direct emotions.” And Vlad Shahin’s vocals really hammer the point home. His clean vocals could shame any quiet, casual singer, and his roars are massive.
Although trying to play romantic doom metal the old school way (like on their debut) Mournful Gust got so carried away that they have, again, inadvertently made a progressive album. Granted, some transitions and moments are a little rough around the edges, and the lyrics could have been in slightly better English. But for anyone with some feelings left in them there’ll always come a time when things go so wrong that Mournful Gust are the only right thing. You just have to hear Shahin growling “I press to heart… I feel nothing” with full passion, and you’ll know what those moments are about. Here’s to more lonesome nights.
Author: Mladen Skot
Review
RockUnderground
8/10
O Mournful Gust, e um conhecido grupo ucraniano e esta de volta com um novo album apos oito meses parados! O album debut foi lancado no ano 2000 e foi relancado em CD em 2005 pela Soyuz/Metal Agen. Atualmente o grupo voltou com novo material, combinando generos como Gothic Metal, Death, Doom e elementos da musica Folk europeia. As melodias sao preenchidas com gravacoes de flautas. A voz da vocalista (conhecida pelo seu trabalho no Autumnia) transmite uma rica variedade de sentimentos e experiencias que foram registradas em letras em ingles, passando dos vocais limpos ate os guturais. Isso e o que diz o release do gruo. Os press reelases geralmente sao um tanto, assaz, exagerados, mas desta vez foram certeiros em descrever a banda. A banda nasceu a partir de duas bandas anteriores dos membros, a banda de black metal Vae Solis e a banda de doom death metal Temple Of Oblivion, ate que em 1999 surge a Mournful Gust. Finalmente em 2008 a banda volta com um album completo, com um encarte de 24 paginas. Aqui temos uma banda madura e este grande disco tem destaques em It’s Our Own Tragedy, To Your Deceits…Again, From Illusions And Jealousy e Honey For My Wounds. Sombrio, gelido e arrepiante.
Review
Jedbangers
MOURNFUL GUST es de esas joyitas que aparecen de vez en cuando y cuando menos uno lo espera. Un disco debut en el 2000, un Ep y este “The Frankness Eve” lanzado a mediados de 2008, representan la discografia oficial del grupo de origen ucraniano.
Doom Metal con certeros toques de Death Metal es lo que practica el sexteto en la mayor parte del material y con excelentes resultados, pues la manera de desarrollar su estilo gana en solemnidad, en buen gusto y en sobriedad cuando los melodiosos riffs marcan el rumbo a seguir.
Novembers Doom viene a mi mente cuando pienso en algun referente (algo inevitable para un redactor de musica), sobre todo por la forma en que MG “potencia” sus canciones gracias a los numerosos recursos que la banda posee para dicha mision.
“A Pain To Remember” y “The Cold Solitude” son dos de las mas dramaticas/bellas canciones que una banda Doom pueda componer, pues parecen extraidas del libro de poemas de un escritor moribundo.
Oscuro, pesado, melodico, contundente… todos adjetivos que le caen como anillo al dedo a estos europeos que bajo el cobijo de uno de los sub generos mas interesantes del Metal han sabido corresponder y de hecho coronar, uno de los mejores discos del under en el pasado 2008.
Author: Gustavo Piccini
Review
Payo UG Webzine
6.5/10
MOURNFUL GUST patri ke stale popularnejsi vlne melodickeho doom/death metalu, kdy se veskrze kazda z onech kapel odvolava na adresu MY DYING BRIDE, WARNING, ANATHEMA ci MOURNING BELOVETH. Ti, jenz doom metal poslouchaji dele, nez jen kratkou chvili, dobre vedi, ze doom je jakysi zapomenuty romanticky styl, ktery neni jen o sklesle atmosfere, podlazenych kytarach, pomalem rifovani, nybrz o hloubce tvurci inspirace, textovych temat a vsemozne spouste dalsich adekvatnich postupu, ktere tak davaji moznost vyniknout doomove melancholicke podstate, se kterou se o slovo hlasi na svem druhem studiovem albu take zkuseni Ukrajinci MOURNFUL GUST, jenz v letosnim roce oslavi sve desate vyroci od vzniku. Kapela sve druhe album nazvala stejne jako predesle EP, ze ktereho si vzala rovnou vsechny ctyri skladby (1-4), a tak si sami kupeckymi pocty spocitate, o kolika novych vecech se tu tedy bude mluvit. Jednoznacnym kladem ve standardni produkci MOURNFUL GUST je hojne vyuziti klavesoveho vrstveni, ktere tak prileva do hrnku s nepropustnou cernou kavou, kterou nepropadne ani lzicka, a bezpochyby take spoluprace s rozlicnymi nastroji – harfa, fletny, lyra, kterych neni ve vysledku vubec malo. Za zminku stoji take zensky zpev – “From Illusions & Jealousy”, ktereho je tu jako safranu, avsak o to vice citim jakehosi zadostiucineni vuci tomuto zenskemu elementu, jenz je svym obsahem pouze kapkou v mori. Dokonce v zaverecne skladbe alba “Recover Me In Sores” je hojne vyuzit take zensky sborovy doprovod, z nehoz mam opravdu radost. Avsak co me ani trochu neuspokojuje je snad jen zpev, ktery svym rozsahem spada do jakehosi sedeho prumeru, kdy pres sebe jednotlive polohy prepadaji asi tak jako duchodci ve fronte na duchod. Vladislav svoji hlasovou indispozici, jenz se odrazi predevsim v jeho cistych polohach, casto strida revem – pri kterem prebiha dokonce i mraz po zadech, ktery mu sedi opravdu lepe, ba dokonce i samotne texty s jakousi formou hlubsiho poslani vyznivaji o poznani lepe a adekvatneji. Samotnou tematikou vsak texty nejevi zadnou snahu dostat se pryc z onoho dokola omyvaneho kolobehu drogove zavislosti, smutku, nenaplnene lasky apod. Jak rekl Markus Ulrich (LANFEAR): “Texty jsou velice dulezite, ale je problem, ze je nikdo necte!” O samotnych instrumentalnich elementech, jenz MOURNFUL GUST ve finalni podobe inspiruji, nelze mluvit jako o jednoucelovych, a to predevsim proto, ze kapela cerpa jak z dilny nezamenitelnych MY DYING BRIDE, ale take DRACONIAN, jenz dobre vedi, ze doom metal neni pouze o chladne atmosfere, a prekrasne zpevacce s uhrancivym pohledem a do poloviny rozepnutym korzetem. MOURNFUL GUST si jsou tohoto faktu rovnez vedomi, avsak vyjma nekolika svetlych okamziku, ze kterych na cele care vynika uvodni “A Pain to Rememeber”, je tato v poradi druha deska jen jakymsi odrazovym mustkem, ktery se nachazi tak nejak uprostred – ani vysoko, ani nizko. A tak zda-li jste zastanci zlate stredni cesty, bude vam ona deska chutnat se vsim vsudy!
Review
Metal-Waves
18/20
08.12.2008
J’ai toujours pense que le Metal Ukrainien etait plus ou moins une sorte d’hymne a la spiritualite. En effet, la plupart des groupes provenant d’Ukraine, du moins ceux que je connais, ont tendance a proposer des musiques bien spirituelles avec leurs atmospheres exaltantes et leurs douces melodies, la je pense surtout a des groupes dans le genre de Drudkh ou Nokturnal Mortum… et voila que la decouverte de ce groupe la vient pour confirmer encore plus ce que je pensais…
Les Mournful Gust sont donc six gars Ukrainiens qui sortent leur nouvel album cette annee, 8 ans apres la sortie de leur premier opus. Le groupe nous propose du bon vieux Death/Doom bien melodique, voire parfois carrement progressif, avec toute une panoplie d’emotions plus touchantes les unes que les autres.
Le style de la formation n’est pas sans rappeler celui des grands My Dying Bride, au niveau des Growls profonds et expressifs mais aussi et surtout au niveau du jeu rythmique avec cette alchimie entre lourdeur et dynamisme qui fait que ca conserve toujours un certain aspect tres accrocheur et equilibre.
Mais le groupe fait evoluer sa musique au-dela de ses principales influences en proposant un cote melodique empli d’un souffle folklorique assez medieval qui fait un peu penser a celui d’Estatic Fear et qui apparait a travers un jeu de synthe bien senti, parfois des guitares Folk/acoustiques et meme quelques touches de flute parsemes un peu partout qui donnent un petit cote rafraichissant a la donne. Sans oublier le tres bon chant clair a la Candlemass qui plante un decor de subtilite autour de lui. Le tout est assiste par des Leads diversifies et des Solos bien inspires un peu a la maniere de ceux de Mourning Beloveth.
Des morceaux comme “It’s Our Own Tragedy”, ‘From Illusions And Jealousy” ou bien “With Every Suffering” ou encore “The Cold Solitude” ne risqueront pas de passer inapercus parce qu’ils se revelent etre de veritables explosions d’emotions tout autant diverses que directes avec leurs delicates melodies et leurs ambiances joliment travaillees.
Bref, “The Frankness Eve” est donc incontestablement un excellent album et avec son aspect melodique, entrainant et accessible, il s’avere etre un album ideal pour bien commencer avec le Death/Doom. Il prouve par la meme occasion que Mournful Gust est un groupe qui merite vraiment qu’on s’attarde dessus et surtout qu’on ne risque pas d’etre decus…
Author: Par Sandman
Review
DoomsterManiac
Second work of this band formed by members from Autumnia. This album is a great work with excellent melodies. The atmosphere is melancholy and sorrow. They use keyboards, flutes and violin. The riffs are melodic with some guitar solos. The vocals are powerful grunts and melancholic clean voice.
Recommended!
Review
MetalRage
19.11.2008
Maybe Mournful Gust has evolved a lot since their previous, debut album in 2000, ´cause otherwise I can´t explain why they’re still a fairly unknown band. Their doom has some resemblances with the music of Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride and is certainly recommended to those of you who are into this genre. The Frankness Eve is an easy listening album and also it´s very accessible for those who aren´t that much into the doom genre.
The drums are a bit too much moved to the background, but that´s the only point of criticism in this review. From the talented vocalist Vlad Shahin to the beautiful flute parts of August Devego, everything works out really well on The Frankness Eve. Where most doom acts have a brilliant vocalist when it comes to growls, but on the other hand produces terribly weak clean vocals, Vlad Shahin can do both styles equally great. His performance is definitely the best thing about this record. He, for example, achieves to make the musically less songs very interesting and that´s a great gift.
Mournful Gust has definitely chosen the right path for this itself. Hopefully they won´t wait another eight years to release a next record and hopefully this line up stays more or less the same. When they keep on evolving I predict a bright future for this sextet.
Author: Gilles
Review
Femforgacs’magazine
9/10
A Mournful Gust tortenete kozel 10 evre nyulik vissza, az ukran csapat ket masik romajin alakult nehany tag reinkarnacioja altal. Nem nevezhetoek kimondottan aktivnak, a 99-es bemutatkozo nagylemezuk ota csak egy EP szuletett, mely cimevel, a rajta szereplo dalokkal es kulsosegeinek koncepciojaval is egyezik jelen kritika targyaval, vagyis a The Frankness Eve-vel. Lassuk akkor, mivel tortek meg a 8 eves urt, milyen tortenet adnak elo az oszinteseg ejszakajan…
Mindenfele intro es egyeb sallang nelkul csapnak bele a hurokba a nyito A Pain to Remember cimu notaban. Az elso hangokbol mar tudni lehet, a megtevesztoen gotikus borito bizony csak hamis eloitelet: a zenekar doom/death metalt jatszik, afele My Dying Bride-os vonalon. Hegedu nincs, az enek javareszt horgos, a dalokat a melyre hangolt gitarok viszik. A szintetizator leginkabb az atvezeto reszeknel kerul elo, illetve nehany hattertemaval kellemes progressziv izt ad a zenenek. Az enek angol nyelvu, a halalrol, keserusegrol szolo szovegeket olvasgatva az igenyesen osszehozott, vastag bookletben az emberben bizony felmerul a gondolat, hogy nem a dal szuletesnapjara utal a 2006. junius 28-ai datum az A Pain to Remember szamcim alatt…
A dalszerkesztes is profi, kellokeppen valtozatosak, izgalmasak a szerzemenyek, fogosak a dallamok, konnyen bevesik magukat az ember emlekezetebe. Bar az alap gitartemak vegigkiserik a dalokat, a zene megis megunhatatlanul valtozatos, a visszatero, ismetlodo reszeket megtorik valamilyen uj zenei elemmel. A fentebb emlitett horgos eneken kivul Vladislav Shahin tiszta eneket is hasznal, mely pl. a With Every Suffering dalban epikus kontost is ad. Nehol elokerul egy fuvola, egy szintetizator felvezeto, vagy egy akusztikus resz, mint a The Cold Solitude elejen is, velemenyem szerint a legerosebb szerzemeny a lemezen.
Bar van nehany laposabb resz a bo 50 percben, es ezert nem kapott maximalis pontot, osszessegeben nagyon kellemes meglepetes az ukranok anyaga, batran ajanlom a hangulatos szorongas minden kedvelojenek.
Review
Metalglory
1999 formierten sich MOURNFUL GUST aus den berresten diverser Doom Bands aus der Ukraine. Bereits ein Jahr spter nahm man das Debt “She´s my Grief” auf Tape auf, um kurze Zeit spter auseinander zu brechen. 2004 startete man einen Neuanfang in dessen Zuge das Debt auch zu CD Ehren kam. Vier (oder eben acht) Jahre spter steht nun der Nachfolger “The Frankness Eve” in den CD-Regalen. Gut Doom will eben Weile haben…
…Im Falle von MOURNFUL GUST trifft dieser Spruch zu, wie die berhmte Faust aufs Auge. Die Band vereint auf sehr gekonnte Weise Death, Doom und Gothic Metal zu einer uerst gelungenen musikalischen Mischung.
Akzentuiert vorgetragene, intensive Riffs und getragene Keyboardsounds mit Hymnencharakter verschmelzen in den Songs zu einer perfekten Symbiose. MOURNFUL GUST nehemen den Hrer mit auf eine unglaublich intensive Reise voller Melancholie, Tristesse, Bitterkeit und Wut. So pendelt man dann auch stndig zwischen schleppenden Passagen und Death Attacken im schnelleren Tempobereich. Das man auch den Einsatz einer Flte nicht scheut, lsst die Songs nicht berladen wirken sondern sorgt fr zustzliche Abwechslung. Das Resultat sind acht sehr intensive, atmosphrische Doomperlen mit Gnsehautgarantie.
Das absolute Highlight auf “The Frankness Eve” ist aber der Gesang von Vladislav Shahin. Eine derart Emotionale Gesangsleistung habe ich seit Saviour Machine nicht mehr gehrt – Grandios! Da auch die tiefen Growls seiner Kehle entspringen kann man vor seiner Stimmbandleistung, die die eh schon groartige Musik letztlich mit den passenden Vocals veredelt, nur den Hut ziehen.
Anspieltipps:
To Your Deceits… Again, The Cold Solitude
Fazit: Mit “The Frankness Eve” haben die Ukrainer MOURNFUL GUST ein groes Werk geschaffen, das auf ganzer Linie berzeugt. Ein Intensives, Abwechslungsreiches und sehr melodische Doom Erlebnis das einen fesselt und nicht so schnell wieder los lsst. Groartig!
Review
Sputnikmusic
My initial thoughts of Mournful Gust´s The Frankness Eve were rather dubious. Naturally, having low expectations coming into the album may have influenced my afterthoughts, but I was duly impressed by what the death/doom band had to offer. Very much abiding by every cliche in the sub-genre´s book, the band still manages to keep a sense of individuality from amongst their peers. Nevertheless, as much as it starts off strongly, the album dips in quality in particular instances, seemingly becoming repetitive towards the second half. This is not so much a result of the band´s songwriting, which is far from bland, rather a slight excess of a good thing; the album drags on longer than it should.
Beginning with “A Pain to Remember”, Mournful Gust make no mistakes. One of the better tracks on the album, the song immediately introduces us to vocalist Vladislav Shahin, the star of the show. As the song opens, Shahin lets loose a low growl, which sits very comfortably with the backing melody; an all too common thing on the album, and a significant factor behind its success. Furthermore, unlike other death/doom bands that rely on good gutturals to take our attention off terribly weak singing, Mournful Gust take pride in Shahin´s singing abilities. “It´s Our Own Tragedy”, entirely void of growls, shows off Shahin´s grasp over his voice. Deep and sonorous, his voice has a commanding presence, making a fantastic song out of a musically weak track. This interplay between his growls and singing continues throughout the album, and provides for an enticing experience.
Mournful Gust rarely stray from the sound that they establish with “A Pain to Remember”. Although becoming somewhat formulaic, the band sticks to it and do the best they can with what they have. In terms of songwriting, the band does not excel as much as one would hope; nevertheless, there is a feeling of authenticity emanating from the sextet. This can be seen through the various melodies that are found on the album; hailing from Ukraine, the band have allowed the influence of their home country´s traditional music to seep into The Frankness Eve. It remains subtle, yet gives the album an edge that makes it all the more appealing.
There is an inherent smoothness about Mournful Gust´s music; the production is lush, and the use of layered synths gives it a very uniform fluidity, only matched by the very best of death/doom. This comes with a downside however, in the fact that although being a consistent album, there were no moments which really sat me on my arse. Moments of brutality on Inborn Suffering´s Wordless Hope, or a desolate melody on Mourning Beloveth´s The Sullen Sulcus gave these albums an exciting touch, and kept me coming back for more. The Frankness Eve is relatively tame in comparison, but still manages to hold its own. For fans of Hanging Garden, Inborn Suffering and DOOM:VS.
Review
Hardsounds.it
69/100
Dall´Ucraina un altro gruppo death/doom melodico e atmosferico sulla falsariga dei primi My Dying Bride. Gi cos potrei concludere la recensione perch avrei essenzialmente detto tutto.
I Mournful Gust arrivano alla seconda prova in studio per la Bad Mood Man (sub etichetta della Solitude Prod.) dopo l´album di debutto del 2006, e sebbene moltissimi problemi sono stati appianati (in primis la performance vocale del singer Vladislav Shahin) quello pi cronico no, cio la mancanza di indipendenza dai modelli a cui il gruppo si ispira.
Artwork e registrazione a dir la verit pi che buoni per un´etichetta ambiziosa ma dalle poche risorse, quello che mi dispiace di pi, il vero nocciolo della questione che “The Frankness Eve” si dimostra ancora troppo attaccato al cordone ombelicale dei primi MDB per poter brillare di luce propria e se in un album di debutto tutto sommato permesso quasi tutto, non lo alla seconda prova.
Mi sembra quindi strano a me per primo trovarmi di fronte ad un prodotto realizzato cos bene esternamente, ma forse un po´ vuoto internamente.
E al giorno d´oggi l´originalit tutto…
Review: Gabriele “Anaconda” Frontini
Review
VoicesFromTheDark
I know for sure that there is only water between Sweden and Finland but nevertheless it´s un-avoidable to link MOURNFUL GUST musically just right between both countries. The Ukrainian band is playing melodic Doom Metal and this release is like a good bottle of wine, it´s becoming better day by day. If Holy Records would still be an international record company instead of concentrating on their French home country their second release “The Frankness Eve” would for sure be released by them because the band is perfectly fitting into their family. The 8 songs are full of interesting ideas; the music heavily supported by flute and piano and even after listening to the release for several times you can still find additional layers in each song. The singer can also add further emotions by switching between dark shouts and more a clearer voice. This release is reminding me of two great bands from the late 90s; on one hand the great debut of finish Doom kings YEARNING (“With Tragedies Adorned”) and on the other hand one of the most underestimated Swedish bands EMBRACED. I know that currently the trend is more or less the ultra Doom direction but melancholy can have so many faces and Funeral Doom is limiting this music to its bare essence. Hope that due to the fact that the album had been released by a smaller Russian label it will get the deserved underground support because musically it´s premium Doom Metal.
Author: Matthias Auch
Review
Metal.by
8.5/10
После непродолжительного перерыва, всего каких то восемь лет, с момента выхода дебютника Mournful Gust разродились вторым полноформатником. Диск вышел на BadMoodMan Music, который является подразделением Solitude Productions, ориентированым на около думовые стили и не попадающие под политику основного лейбла. Сразу хочется сказать несколько лестных слов об оформлении альбома, ведь первое впечатление о материале и так сказать определенный настрой на его восприятие происходит именно с визуальной части, которая в данном случае выполнена просто на высоте. На саму болванку нанесен пит-арт, а 24-х страничный буклет просто завораживает своей красотой, у каждой песни есть свой отдельный визуальный образ застывший в прекрасном изображении на соседней с текстом странице, при этом целостность оформления нисколько не нарушается, оно поддерживается общим настроением выполненым в осенне — печальных оттенках. Рассматривая буклет, мне в голову пришла одна забавная мысль, если бы проводился мировой чемпионат по оформлению буклетов, то этот бы точно оказался в тройке призеров.
Теперь перейдем непосредственно к материалу. Он представляет собой не совсем инновативный, но весьма качественный и довольно таки красивый Gothic Doom Death в лучших традициях жанра. В этой музыке сплелись в единую гармонию тяжелый метал, красивые клавишные и великолепная флейта, причем последние два компонента создают неповторимую атмосферу средневековья, которая иногда дополняется проигрышами акустической гитары. И хоть музыкальная состовляющая альбома и мало оригинальна, все ходы порядком уже заезжены и все сыграно строго по канонам жанра, но может быть именно это и является изюминкой альбома, никаких тебе эксперементов, никаких п(р)оисков, а именно то что и хотят услышать ценители данного жанра — старый добрый класический Gothic Doom Death в лучших традициях жанра, без каких-либо скачков в сторону.
На альбоме много красивых, цепляющих мелодий которые прочно ложаться на память. Их основу составляет гитара, вокруг которой, словно бы купидоны над влюбленными, парят флейта и клавишные, придавая музыке печальную красоту. Так же атмосфера печали и отчаяния поддерживается и вокалом, причем как гроул так и чистый голос у Влада Шахина (вокалист Autumnia) получается на высоком уровне, как в принципе и уровень игры остальных участников группы тоже довольно высок. Что касается качества записи и сведения, то можно смело сказать что материал отвечает мировым стандартам и является вполне конкурентноспособным.
Итак, подведем итог, что же мы имеем на диске: красивая музыка да, оригинальность материала — нет (а может и не надо), качественная запись — да, прекрасное оформление — да, высокий уровень исполнения — да. Все вроде бы присутствует, все вроде бы хорошо, но на шедевр явно не тянет.
Review
Metal Revolution
87/100
19.01.2010
If it wasn’t for Russian-based Solitude Productions I wouldn’t know many of the awesome bands coming from world’s biggest country and its surroundings. But, Mournful Gust is not just another band in a line of boring bands. I’ve been entertained a lot while listening to the 8 well-written compositions on these Ukrainians latest offering The Frankness Eve.
This CD has just about everything; from acoustic parts to deep and dark melancholic riffing, from light and mellow flute passages accompanied by symphonic keys, and finally clean, sexy and almost angelic female voice followed by demonic and deep male growls.
However, this album is, speaking in general terms, a melodic one where slow riffs are predominant. There’re even some Folkish melodies throughout the whole record, and when coupled with above mentioned nice female vocals, it sounds just perfect. Even the whole production thing is just done perfectly as all the elements are in place and they can be easily heard.
I never thought that I would find myself enjoying a piece of melancholic doom/melodic death metal with a slightly progressive touch as much as I did with this release by Mournful Gust. This shit is a masterpiece, unless you can’t stand this particular genre. For more info on this extremely well-played record go to http://www.mournfulgust.com
Author: bato
Review
Metal Shambala
2010
Mournful Gust es una banda ukraniana editada por el sello Bad moon man que hace doom death metal con clima opresivo y desgarrador. Lo primero que se me viene a la mente al escucharlos es My Dying Bride o Paradigma aunque tambien me recuerda un poco a Lunatic Invasion.
La banda despliega con gran eficacia una serie de sonidos contundentes con guitarras en baja afinación y voces bien densas y guturales propias de este estilo. Sin dudas se trata de un trabajo impecable en producción y en el toque que la banda da a cada nota de este gran album.
The Frankness Eve es el tercer album de estos ukranianos y vale la pena escucharlos. Aqui les dejo un par de temas para que se vayan dando cuenta de lo que les hablo.
Publicado por Furias
Review
Diskunion.Net
2010
ウクライナのフォーキッシュ/ドラマティック・バトル・メタルの2ndアルバム。デス&ノーマルヴォーカルにトラッド/フォーキッシュ・メロディ に勇壮さとミドル・テンポでドラマティックに盛り上げる泣きのサウンド。ピアノやアコギ、ヴァイオリンやフルートに女性ヴォーカル等が随所で物悲しさもあ る郷愁と叙情性を助長させる。ENSIFERUMをWINDIR寄りにした感じとも言える男泣きヴァイキング/フォーキッシュ・メタル・ファン要チェック の作品。
Review
Dark City #46
4/5
Восьмилетний перерыв между первым и вторым альбомами в большинстве случаев смерти подобен, но украинцам Mournful Gust повезло: они выжили! Возможно, свою роль здесь сыграло переиздание на CD дебютника в 2005 году, а, возможно, и впечатляющий творческий потенциал команды, которая прорвалась сквозь годы, чтобы представить слушателю своё новое творение под названием ‘The Frankness Eve’. Здесь мы слышим классический дум/дэт с очень эмоциональными вокальными линиями – от гроула до чистого пения; а также можно заметить и аккуратно вплетенные в основное звуковое полотно элементы европейского фолка (главную роль здесь играет живая флейта). И, конечно, нельзя не упомянуть о стильном 24-страничном буклете, который очень удачно поддерживает настроение от прослушивания самой музыки.
Author: Ан.К.
Review
Doom-metal.com
22.06.2010
I must admit that I do not understand the semantics behind Mournful Gust’s name. How can a gust be mournful? If I were to take a wild guess then I’d say that this refers to an autumnal breeze as perceived by a mourning subject. As an alternative, and, in my opinion, more interesting, interpretation then this could reflect a exhaled breath containing an ever so slight sob. Unfortunately the band isn’t all that proficient in English which makes it possible that I am completely wrong. I have similar interpretation problems in regards to the album title, but again I’m willing to make a guess. I suspect that “frankness” is here meant to mean ‘honest’, but the semantics of the word ‘frankness’ has a stronger implication of being straightforward than the semantics of ‘honest’. Hence the evening – or Eve, if it refers to the girls name – of frankness holds less respect for one’s emotions than an evening of honesty; where one could imagine an evening in solitude, where the person in question has to take a stance towards something and has to be honest to himself or herself about what he or she feels about this something. If I am correct about this then the choice of words – despite that the title is ungrammatical (it should have been typed ‘The Eve of Frankness’) – is perhaps not as improper as one might initially think.
The reason for the focusing on the bandname and the album title is that I suspect they might deter some listeners from giving the music a chance. That would have been a shame because it is obvious to me that the music is highly developed and of equally high quality. To a certain degree it follows a My Dying Bride path, but to an even stronger extent it draws on the medieval folky doom metal of Chalice and the mournful doom/gothic of Dis Pater. In fact Mournful Gust’s vocalist Vladislav Shahin sounds almost identical to Andrey Sheglov from Dis Pater. The vocal style demands some patience before they can be properly appreciated. When that is achieved, however, I find that the vocals fit the music perfectly. The music has a tendency to get somewhat playful, but the vocals add the strong touch of melancholy and romantic sorrow that is needed to drag the music down to a more somber level. Before I end my description of the sound I feel I need to state that the band utilizes several additional instruments including flute and piano. Moreover, they use them well.
Mournful Gust has existed since 1999 and even so most of the members have taken part in other bands before that. With ‘The Frankness Eve’ the band show that they know how to put that experience to good use. Their combination of atmospheric doom/gothic and melodic doom/death might be too melodic for some, but I would still recommend this album to the romantic doomster. One should expect something more original than a Peaceville Three clone, though. To those who already own the album, have you noticed that all the really negative words in the tracklist has been marked with a black spot on the back of the cover? I have no idea as to why…
Author: Arnstein H. Pettersen
Review
Extreme Music
7.5/10
13.05.2010
Parece que estos chicos llegan decididos a retomar las riendas. Y más, tras haberse pasado más de 8 años en dique seco. A tal parón, habría que sumarle la reedición de su debut “She´s My Grief” en 2005, así, como las aportaciones de Alexander dentro de las filas de AUTUMNIA. Tras estos insignificantes acontecimientos, “The Frankness Eve” representa su segundo álbum de estudio hasta la fecha.
Si no me falla la memoria, su debut del 2000 (en formato K7) iba en una onda similar a las primeras obras de los polacos DARZAMAT, inicios GALADRIEL, ASHES YOU LEAVE, ambos especializados por aquel entonces, en rebañar sobre unas producciones, cuyos sonidos (aún estando un paso más allá) no cerraban las puertas a los aromas de otros polacos como fueron NEOLITHIC, llegando incluso a jugar con la crudeza rítmica de nuevas hornadas, del palo “Iron”, formidable debut de los checos SILENT STREAM OF GODLESS ELEGY.
Centrándonos en “The Frankness Eve”, la propuesta de MOURNFUL GUST se nos presenta muchísimo más ordenada en todos los aspectos, especialmente sobre el colchón de apoyo por el que se mueve la banda, cuyo corte romántico va apoderándose de las composiciones. Así, a primeras, podríamos destacar una faceta mucho más limpia, tanto en producción, como en el feeling final que le dan a los nuevos temas. Los 8 cortes andan con un altísimo don de sentimiento, que se ve notablemente reforzado por la papeleta de los teclados, con el extra añadido que supone, el híbrido vocal que va alternándose en más de una ocasión. El primer golpe de efecto nos llega con “The Cold Solitude” abundancia en voces limpias, cuya participación se hace muy notable en esta nueva “etapa”, las guturales, obviamente siguen estando presentes, aunque esta vez, destacan por completo tan solo para romper la dinámica más pausada de los temas que así lo requieren. MOURNFUL GUST, consiguen encontrar el equilibrio perfecto en las meticulosas estructuras que por ejemplo nos ofrece la brillante “To Your Deceits Again”, un tema muy suyo, que no deja de balancearse entre las facetas más abrumadoras de la banda. Sencillez, buenos riffs melódicos, altas cargas de tristeza, y un sinfín de adjetivos que logran aumentar su tamaño en cada nueva escucha.
De por medio, han sabido enchufarle ciertos toques acústicos, a veces en forma de arpegio, otras colándose entre la desenfrenada espesor de sus instrumentos, creando un efecto optimo al lado de los coros, que aunque no naden en abundancia, tienen su momento predominante, en las partes que así lo requieren.
A pesar de los típicos requisitos que uno podría esperarse en este tipo de propuestas, el resultado global ofrece un álbum muy apto, que bajo mi opinion, en pocos momentos se ve ensombrecido por la monotonía del género. Eso si, las sombras de la época intermedia MY DYING BRIDE, ANATHEMA, siguen estando presentes, a veces filtrándose entre la personalidad de MOURNFUL GUST, otras trasladando el aroma de bandas noveles del palo NOX AUREA, y otras simplemente dejando que la música siga recorriendo el subconsciente del oyente.. Aún así, creo MOURNFUL GUST aprueban con sobrada elegancia..
Author: Xavier Bergada
Review
Born In Blood
Not bad, pretty good actually. You know what you are going to get of course. Gothic Romantic Death Doom. You could argue how many albums do you need of their style bearing in mind the formula and just how many bands there are out there doing it by the book. But from this album I’d say Mournful Gust were one of the better ones. Ultimately all music of this type can be traced back and has to be compared with My Dying Bride, such is that band’s legendary contribution to the gothically romantic doom genre. And Mournful Gust don’t fare too badly in comaprison. If they had been the first to do this sort of stuff we’d all be comparing bands with them, but they weren’t and a lot of other bands play music like this now. It’s well played, full of minor keys and meloncoly keyboards. Viocals are growled and sythesised female voices do the backing vocals all as you’d expect. Formulas and cliché abound, you know exactly what you are going to get and if you like the genre you will love this.
Author: Beerman