Release Date: July 05th 2024. Record Label: London Doom Collective / Evil Noise Recordings. Formats: Cassette/CD/DD/Vinyl
Mourning Light: Tracklisting
1.Precipice
2.No Salvation
3.Mourning Light
4.Invisible Agony
Members
Chris Jones – Guitars, Vocals
Mark Davidson - Drums, Griefcase.
Ollie Isaac – Bass
Review
Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal collective Old Horn Tooth new album Mourning Light takes a different progressive narrative compared to their 2019 release From The Ghost Grey Depths. As the band focus more upon long-drawn Drone/Doom and down tuned instrumental passages which draws upon influences such as YOB, SLEEP and ELECTRIC WIZARD with a certain filthy and seedy Doomedelic based Stoner rhythm that made their debut release such a great record to listen to.
Mourning Light has a deep meaningful LOW & SLOW delivery with the music being built around a dominant DRUMS and BASS combo from Mark and Ollie respectively. Chris provides eerie vocals and an absolutely devastating Sludgy guitar sound that has a powerful WEEDIAN and slightly POSSESSED tone which is aggressive from the start which you can hear within the excellent opening track of Precipice.
The song follows a Progressive Doom/Stoner Metal structure throughout its epic sixteen minutes plus run-time. Old Horn Tooth combines Psychedelic textures and Sonic fueled landscapes with the whole modern day Psychedelic/Cosmic Rock energy being stripped back into a surreal and primal raging assault on the senses. Overlapping sound effects and trippy atmospherics languish silently into the background when Old Horn Tooth unleash a distorted array of extended instrumental jams and sludgy guitar solos that demand your full attention.
Second track No Salvation continues with the Progressive based energy of the opening track with mind-blowing instrumental solos that some of the most powerful on the whole record especially when Old Horn Tooth reach moments of deafening levels of AMPLIFIER DISTORTION and different styles of REVERB and STEREO FEEDBACK. The vocals are constantly raw with an honest delivery to them with Old Horn Tooth once again showing real moments of huge originality within their music and lyrics. The song is quite emotionally draining but the track isn’t afraid to unleash HELL ON EARTH within your hearing.
I was quite surprised at how emotionally draining and brilliantly melodic this album really is. Old Horn Tooth shows a deeply caring side to their music despite the dark nature of the music itself. The next two tracks Mourning Light and Invisible Agony continue to explore the more Progressive and Riff Centric values of Old Horn Tooth’s whole creative mission which become the most impressive and outstanding parts of the record.
Third track Mourning Light is another fourteen minutes plus number with Old Horn Tooth delving into a similar Post-Doom energy as YOB and Pallbearer. The whole flow maybe seedier and down-tuned but the message is there which is down to the first-rate use of PSYCHEDELIC and AMBIENT sounds yet again. Sounds of epic FUZZED UP levels of instrumental passages become more emotionally rewarding when Chris Jones’s exquisite use of different vocal styles lead the song to an incredible finish.
However, it’s the epic final track of Invisible Agony that has allowed Mourning Light to become my favourite album of the year. This is where Old Horn Tooth impresses on all technical and creative levels with the sheer amount of different styles of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal that appear. This track has a similar scale that can easily be matched or compared to the legendary DOPESMOKER. The use of different Ambient and Psychedelic textures against a sludge driven Post-Rock/Post-Stoner attitude allows Old Horn Torn to play the heaviest, vibrant and most exciting grooves on the entire album.
Mourning Light may just propel Old Horn Tooth to the forefront of the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal scene with its powerful vision and can be considered one of the most breathtaking, wholly original and defining albums of the whole year.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Sheltered Life PR for the promo.
Mourning Light will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via London Doom Collective and Limited Edition Cassette Tape from Evil Noise Recordings from Friday July 05th 2024.
Old Horn Tooth on Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube
London Doom Collective on Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
