Mournful Congregation - The Incubus of Karma (2018)^{Release ID: 3402}

I recall rating this as being my AOTY for 2018 somewhere on the internet, so when it got thrown up as a suggestion on a playlist recently it gave me good excuse to revisit this, the fifth full-length from these Australians. It is my only experience of the band in all honesty, so I have no benchmark from previous releases to gauge how this sits against the rest of their discography. I also have very brief forays into funeral doom as a sub-genre, limiting myself to the odd spin of Bell Witch every now and again, so I am no expert on the finer points of this style of metal.

The first thing to point out is that is probably one of the cleverest uses of such a crushing and oppressive style for what equates to a very artistic and richly positive experience. To me, throughout the whole dank and gloomy experience, there is an ever-present light (albeit muted for the most part) that shines a pallid beam onto proceedings. Along the way it highlights the ethereal creativity of one of the most expressive albums I have ever heard. This positive slant is perhaps not what regulars of the sub-genre would expect but it works well here to emphasis the beauty that lurks in the equally obvious darkness on The Incubus of Karma. This contrast is one of the albums absolute triumphs.

The other major standout for me is the quality of the compositions on display. Mournful Congregation know how to write captivating material and apply a clarity to their sound that again is unexpected in the style. Their long track lengths sound expansive beyond just the mere passing of time itself. They carve out atmospheres and eco-systems of their own as they swell and swallow the space around them. This is the soundtrack to stars collapsing in on themselves in a universe recreating its very being with bursts of light exploding in the ether as interplanetary collisions occur causing dense clouds of dust that threaten to envelope everything.  These guys can play and you will have to look hard to find many other bands as capable of delivering such an impassioned and rewarding performance as this five-piece can.

Ironically, I find my one criticism to be the very thing that the genre is renowned for. As much as I enjoy the album immensely, it does go on for too long. An hour and twenty minutes is too much for one sitting and so I must split my listen through into two separate runs. In a way this captures the brilliance of the title track showcase its clever use of melodies ahead of the behemoths that make up the final third of the album. However, a twenty-two minute closer is a tad too much of a stretch for me. As crushing as the albums last track is, I do not have the patience to sit and focus on it for the whole duration; if my ears permitted me the luxury of being able to use headphones this may be a different scenario. However, the tolling of the bell after around nine minutes in reminds me that this album will chime in my head for days after this (split) listen and that is the real success of it.

This is somewhat lighter in tone than the majority of funeral doom albums, feeling more like some kind of spiritual journey rather than a bleakly sorrowful miasma. Don't misunderstand, this still crushes when it wants to, but the emphasis on the lead guitar makes for a more optimistic-feeling kind of funeral doom.