Review by Denis on February 12, 2003.

Even if fall is the darkest of all seasons, it has been good for me this year. Being actually a re-release of the band debut album that came out in 2000, "Dust" includes also a track from their upcoming work to be called "The Sullen Sulcus" on track number 6 and the closing song was taken from the demo "Autumnal Fires" released in 1998. The original 66 minutes long version is now lasting over 74 minutes, much to my pleasure.

I was very anxious to hear how the band sounded like since it was presented to me as a heavier My Dying Bride. Well I was far from being disappointed and happy to let myself loose in Doom wonderland once again. The unchanged line-up that this band experienced paid out in the form of a highly strong and mature debut album. Heavier My Dying Bride it certainly is. Doom to the bone for sure with its slow pace and strong bass and great guitar work done the doom style. The vocals are either cool clean or superb deep death and on some other songs like 'Dust' simply amazing sounding like a creature from another world. This doom masterpiece last almost 15 minutes of breathtaking atmosphere and musical splendors. Melodic phrases flowing throughout the whole opus with fringe benefits like clean guitar notes on the intro of 'In Mourning My Days' (another of my favorites) ending in a more upbeat type of prog passage. One would be surprised by the clean vocals used on 'Autumnal Fires' for most of its duration especially with the heaviness of the track but this was done without loosing anything as far as the high level of emotion is concerned. I really love the sad mood on the instrumental called 'Sinistra' conveyed by clean guitar notes and church bells. The British have My Dying Bride, the Americans November Doom, now the Irish can heavily rely on Mourning Beloveth for their Masters of Doom.

Bottom Line: "Dust" has everything a Doom album should have and more.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 9
Originality: 8
Production: 8.5
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.5 out of 10