Mournful Congregation

Mournful Congregation

The Exuviae Of Gods - Part 2

20 Buck Spin

Returning with the second and final installment in the doom-laden The Exuviae Of Gods EP series, Part II once again contains two never-heard brand new Mournful Congregation tracks and a re-recording of an old classic from the band’s ’90s demo era. The EP opens with “Heads Bowed,” which the most fanatical Mournful Congregation fans will recognize from their An Epic Dream Of Desire demo from 1995, now given new life through the eyes and ears of decades of extreme doom songcraft and studio-work. After that look back, “The Forbidden Abysm” and the side-long “The Paling Crest” remind one how far Mournful Congregation have come, and yet remain as true to their original purpose as ever. Like the previous EP, artwork is once again handled by Karmazid, bringing the monadic into the dyadic. Thus perfecting the natural order of primordial principles… And so concludes the dual-pillar compendium of devouring gloom and exaltation that is The Exuviae Of Gods. A balm to quiet the restless spirit as the world awaits the inevitable birth of the years-in-the-making sixth Mournful Congregation album.

Mournful Congregation

The Exuviae Of Gods - Part 1

20 Buck Spin

***ON LIMITED OXBLOOD VINYL!!! Australia’s ageless kings of extreme doom Mournful Congregation return for the first time since 2018’s monumental The Incubus Of Karma album. Now in 2022 comes The Exuviae Of Gods - Part I, the first in a two part EP series to bridge the gap between full length albums. Perhaps known equally for the colossal length of their songs as much as their evocative and somber magnificence, an EP for Mournful Congregation amounts to a sprawling three tracks over thirty-seven minutes in length. Two new tracks, the lachrymose funereal dirge “Mountainous Shadows, Cast Through Time” and the largely acoustic reflective dream of “The Exuviae Of Gods” present the ongoing expansion of the Mournful Congregation universe. And lastly the band has revisited and re-recorded one of their oldest tracks dating all the way back to their 1995 demo days with “An Epic Dream Of Desire”. Over a discography spanning three decades, the towering legacy of Mournful Congregation in the metal underground is unassailable and The Exuviae Of Gods - Part I is another brick in their timeless ongoing bequest bestowed upon this mortal coil.

Mournful Congregation

The Incubus Of Karma

20 Buck Spin

***Back in stock on vinyl!!!  After more than six years since The Book Of Kings, Mournful Congregation, Australia’s stone pillar of funereal dirge, presents their regal fourth full-length, The Incubus Of Karma. Since that time the band has made several trips to the U.S. and Europe, released the mini-album Concrescence Of The Sophia, and increased their reputation as the pinnacle of extreme / funeral doom and as one of the most influential bands in the genre.  Throughout these intervening years the band has also been meticulously crafting this new masterpiece. Everything that has made them the unchallenged masters of this style is here: the agonizing weight of extreme doom riffs, bitterly sombre dissonance, a painterly attention to detail and arrangement, and vocals summoned from the deepest hole. And as with each album before, the band expands upon their unique progressive tendencies, weaving beautifully constructed solos and lengthy virtuoso interludes into a bleak-yet-intricate tapestry of stately grandeur. An incredible twenty-five years into their existence, Mournful Congregation persist in refining and perfecting their immortal art.

Mournful Congregation

Concrescence Of The Sophia

20 Buck Spin

The ever-bereaved Australians in Mournful Congregation hath seen fit to wake once more and bequeath to thee, feeble mortal, two new effigies of chiseled white marble doom upon which, souls torn asunder, the passed are reverently consecrated. Herein find Mournful Congregation advancing their unrivaled and painstaking style of extreme doom, from soaring, majestic beauty straight down into the lowliest somber depths of hell. Intended to an extent as an “in-between” release while the funeral directors sculpt their next full-length eulogy, Concrescence of the Sophia opens with its more-than-20-minute title track, where “the weight of all waters, and the mass of all stars” exacts a heavy toll in the timeless pursuit of mystical knowledge. The monumental main riff onerously gives foundation to Damon Good’s ardently howling leads and sepulchral lament, while acoustic interludes offer only temporary respite to doom’s forgone conclusion. On the B-side, “Silence of the Passed” at a mere nine minutes in duration nonetheless foretells how vast is the agency of doom. 20 Buck Spin proudly presents Concrescence of the Sophia to the North American cemetery, adding yet another shining, jeweled crown to the growing reliquary of Mournful Congregation.  “Mournful Congregation has confidently captured the essence of grief, and composed a monumental soundtrack that entombs the soul. Beneath each stratum of sadness, there is a glimmer of hope, and there is a fragile warmth which emanates from the embers of the album’s exquisite aural pyre.” —Last Rites

Mournful Congregation

The June Frost

20 Buck Spin

***NOW AVAILABLE ON VINYL AFTER BEING OUT OF PRINT FOR MORE THAN TEN YEARS!!! With their third full-length, 2009’s The June Frost (referring to the Winter season in the band’s home of Australia, of course), Mournful Congregation finally secured a proper North American release on the small Enucleation Records label. And though this helped to increase the band’s status in the States, the label unfortunately ceased to operate not long after the album came out and Mournful Congregation were once again without support—until joining forces with 20 Buck Spin in 2011.  Thankfully, the quality of material on The June Frost—another eight tracks of freezing white, solemn and progressive funereal doom—achieved the first real accolades for the band from the wider metal press. Consisting of four primary extended songs and four shorter instrumental passages in between, it echoes elements of the earliest Anathema recordings in terms of both heaviness and heartbreak. Plenty of acoustic passages, drawn-out single notes and creative arranging make Mournful’s refined, classical sound the epitome of the genre, leading up to their 2011 masterpiece The Book of Kings. The June Frost is finally back in print as part of 20 Buck Spin’s series of Mournful Congregation back-catalog pressings.  Gatefold 2xLP with spot gloss print, 180G vinyl. “A perfect semblance of somber ethereal beauty and soul crushing sadness....” —Teeth of the Divine  “An ultimate experience of profound grief.” —Heathen Harvest  “Carrying the funeral doom torch with fervor, they have set the bar almost immeasurably high.” —Chronicles of Chaos

Mournful Congregation

Monad Of Creation

20 Buck Spin

The favorite album of many longtime Mournful Congregation fans, The Monad of Creation stands as a monument of creativity and depth in the doom genre. Originally released in 2005 on the obscure Japanese label Weird Truth Productions, it was widely overlooked due to having no official North American release. Nonetheless, The Monad of Creation is an absolute masterpiece of sorrowful and expressive doom metal the likes of which is rarely achieved by any band. Similar to their 2011 release The Book of Kings, The Monad of Creation consists of four long tracks ranging from 10 to 21 minutes in length. Each is a universe unto itself, its various shades of light and dark intricately crafted and painted with arduous attention. Damon Good’s deep, tortured vocals hang like a noose over the bleak and vast spirit of decay throughout. 20 Buck Spin releases Monad as part of a series of Mournful Congregation back catalog pressings, making the band’s first three full-length albums regularly available in North America for the first time ever.

Mournful Congregation

Tears From A Grieving Heart

20 Buck Spin

Recorded in 1997 and 1998, Mournful Congregation’s debut album Tears from a Grieving Heart is the band’s first cohesive album-length statement after having put out several demos and splits going back to their founding in 1993. As fate would have it, the work was not officially released until 2002, on vinyl on Paniac (missing one track) and on CD as part of a longer Mournful Congregation discography to that point. Over the course of these six tracks, Mournful Congregation displays beautifully ornate and progressive songcraft within the confines of the then practically non-existent funeral doom genre, firmly establishing their impeccable reputation within the international metal underground. The album’s lack of a proper label release meant they’d remain relatively obscure to all but the most aware fans of the genre in the United States for several years to come. Now as part of a series of Mournful Congregation back catalog pressings, 20 Buck Spin presents Tears from a Grieving Heart for the first time as a stand-alone full-length album on CD—the format on which it was always meant to be.

Mournful Congregation

Book Of Kings

20 Buck Spin

In 2018 Mournful Congregation dropped their first album in more than six years, The Incubus Of Karma. The widely acclaimed album was heralded as yet another landmark for the extreme / funeral doom genre, adding perhaps the brightest jewel to the band’s crown. The band travelled to both the US and Europe once again to administer last rites to the faithful. Back in 2011 the band released another monument to melancholy, the stunningly grandiose The Book Of Kings. Landing in Decibel’s Top 40 albums that year, the album was the pinnacle of their progressively-minded dirge to that point and includes what may be the most epic track in a catalog that defines the word, the thirty-plus minute title track that weaves a tale of regality through the life, death, crowning and dethronement of nameless kings. Having begun the year with Mournful Congregation, 20 Buck Spin now sees fit to bookend the 2018 campaign with this gorgeous vinyl edition of The Book Of Kings—a gatefold 2xLP featuring the original artwork and accented with metallic bronze print and a beautiful full-sized 12 page booklet.

Mournful Congregation

Unspoken Hymns

20 Buck Spin

Australia’s Mournful Congregation have existed in some form or another since the mid 1990s. They are well known in the international underground metal scene as forerunners of the funeral doom sub-genre, where they sit with Skepticism, Asunder and scant few others as longtime torchbearers of a unique sound. Alongside members’ involvement in numerous other projects, including Stargazer and Cauldron Black Ram, 2011 marks a period of increased activity for the band. With Mournful Congregation’s fourth studio album, The Book of Kings, set for a November release on 20 Buck Spin, the label presents The Unspoken Hymns, a compilation of Mournful Congregation tracks previously released on limited-run, vinyl-only splits with like-minded, respected funeral doomers Worship, Stabat Mater and Stone Wings. The disc also includes a newer, remixed version of the song “Left Unspoken” which originally appeared in an earlier form on the Four Burials split that also featured Loss, among others. Their cover of “Elemental” by the influential Thergothon is also included. 2011 will also see Mournful Congregation make their stateside live debut in support of the forthcoming album with West Coast dates in December, culminating in a headlining appearance at the third annual Rites of Darkness festival in San Antonio.