Tapping into the auld, rotten and thousand-needled vein of dramatic melancholia for their own spark melodic death/doom metal quartet ETERNAL MOURN introduce themselves with a trio of tragedian dirges per this well-concieved introductory EP. A throwback to the early-to-mid 90’s gothic doom movement when it was still rooted in death/doom metal foundations, ‘Winds of Sorrow‘ effectively captures the restless affectation and intimacy of that original (and transitional) sound. Beyond providing a consistent example of death/doom metal melodrama in growling gnarl their work here does a fine job of fostering a familiar but rousing melodic voice on this debut, a vine-strangled marble foundation well worth building upon.

Eternal Mourn likely formed in recent years by way of folks associated with Extirpation, Araphel and Black Oath with the intent of musing upon the gothic death/doom trend of the early 90’s. Back in the day I’d delineated between post-’94 gothic metal (“dark metal”, even) and melodic death/doom metal of the earlier decade. In this case the band’s style reflects a transitional period between the two sans any dominant focus on clean vocal performances, a sweet spot managed between aggression and depressive rock guided collapse. If we were to take a lens to what sector of the “Peaceville three” they’re best aligned with it’d probably make sense to veer further off script and straight to something like ‘Brave Murder Day‘-era Katatonia or its sister album in October Tide‘s debut per a face value impression of their rhythmic and melodic sensibilities. Opener “Falling Tears” should have you there in less than a minute and a half but “Winds of Sorrow” is just as direct once revealed.

One could likewise point to any number of Paradise Lost inspired bands nearby 1993 for that matter a la Cemetary (Sweden) with ‘Godless Beauty‘, though the three songs included on this debut EP aren’t as eclectic in shape or motion. Nor are they as funereal/undergrounded as Thorns of the Carrion‘s debut or as tangled and melodic as Visceral Evisceration. Instead the three ~7.5 minute pieces included within ‘Winds of Sorrow‘ follow a similar sense of lead guitar driven melodicism and gothic rock imbued temperament (again) to that of the standards enjoyed circa 1991-1994 or so. It is a reasonable if not crowded house in terms of modern day musicians reaching for emotion in underground metal and recreating the sensation of British/Scandinavian doom past by proxy unto similar result. The way I see it the same bands inspired everyone else back in the day, too, and the destination is the same no matter how deep into the niche you peck.

While many a group have attempted to reach for the bar set by records like ‘Rain Without End‘ and ‘Brave Murder Day‘ very few have come as close to their dramatic rise-and-fall effect as Eternal Mourn have here, especially with concern for their guitar work. No, it isn’t a one-to-one comparison and no doubt bands like Daylight Dies took that actual sound even further into its own in the late 90’s/early 2000’s, but here the band’s focus on longer-form pieces allows for a familiar perhaps even more pure death/doom metal coded dynamic to unfurl in the process. “Embracing Tragedy” locks the ear in the throes of this specific sound throughout its run, making the best argument for the band’s take and the thoughtful craft of each of these three songs otherwise. The other two pieces which surround it approach from slightly different angles with similar result. The effect is certainly not unique but it is rarely done with this level of of believable gravitas and as consistent a melodic structure as this.

Clean vocals tend to be a pretty mixed bag within the tradition of melodic death/doom metal but in this case Eternal Mourn‘ve done well to place them sparingly (re: “Falling Tears” endpoint) and rarely in direct opposing stance to the death metal roar which narrates most of the experience. The title track/closer here, “Winds of Sorrow”, reaches for clean vocals more readily (around ~2:53 minutes in) in feature of a guest spot from A.th (Black Oath) before a main riff progression that stinks of ‘Dance of December Souls‘ steals the moment away in feature.

As a longtime fan of melodic death/doom metal who is ‘ready well-attuned to its effect I’d instantly appreciated what Eternal Mourn were doing here and how measured its execution was. Then again I could see the argument that much of what they do on ‘Winds of Sorrow‘ operates within an already well-established plane and they’d simply found something compelling to do with it. Nothing new per se but a fine example nonetheless. The full listen is yet transfixing, gloomed over yet reaching enough to have gripped my attention on its saunter through. A moderately high recommendation.

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