Review by Adam M on May 20, 2025.

This album has a more modern flair than older albums in the band’s discography. It has a grunge type of feel that is very addictive and different for the band. Singing is also memorable and adds to the experience. There is the feeling of bands like Alice in Chains as much as there is like Metallica. It is a rousing affair and also very memorable.

Guitars are crunchy and grunge-like and add to the experience. Singing is distinctive and one of a kind and adds to the experience. This is a very well-performed album instrumentally, but perhaps slightly simple sounding compared to others like Megadeth’s Rust in Peace.

This is not a perfect album, however, and can be faulted for its simplicity. It is not a display of virtuoso songcraft, but rather a more straightforward type of songwriting that is easy to digest and quite memorable. There could be more fireworks on display than there is, but it’s a nicely tuneful collection of songs. It is quite crunchy and has a nice modern flair to it.

All in all, this is a very strong album and one of the best by the band. It is not anything revolutionary, but in particular a good display of John Bush’s vocals talents and fits nicely into the band’s discography. Though it could be made more complex, it’s a very vibrant and memorable recording.

Rating: 7.5/10

Review by Felix on October 17, 2023.

It has already been said a lot of times, the early nineties brought a time of reorientation for the old thrash heroes. The new shit from Seattle made an impact, but was this really reason enough to deny the own roots? Anyway, the great names of the past were not fainting. Anthrax, for example, had a budget great enough to produce an excellent sound. Right from the beginning, “Potter’s Field” achieves a magnificent result in terms of depth, multidimensionality and raw precision. The “Sound of White Noise” makes fun, it’s so powerful yet smooth and very close to perfection.

And in terms of music, Anthrax also showed their teeth. John Bush’s natural voice is much more metal than that of Joey Belladonna. He gives the songs a very male and vigorous touch. He strikes every tone perfectly and enriches the material by his performance significantly. I don’t say that Belladonna is the worse singer, but I cannot imagine the here presented songs with his vocals. They are tailored to Bush’s voice and he makes the very best out of this situation. Naturally, you cannot turn shit into gold just by a good vocal performance. But don’t worry, sometimes the white noise is much better than its reputation.

Anthrax start with a powerful triple strike. The shredding of “Potter’s Field”, the smoothly flowing “Only” with its characteristic drum intro and the mega-catchy chorus and the somewhat inconspicuous but very well done “Room for One More” make fun. It’s no thrash, at least not in its pure form, but the muscular compositions are clearly based on a very stable fundament. Anthrax play an authentic form of metal. They do not whine to the mainstream for attention. Even “Black Lodge” doesn’t do this. Yes, it is a calm number with a certain Metallica-affinity, but it is free from schmaltz. Moreover, it holds emotional harmonies and is cleverly arranged. I don’t say that I am listening to a masterpiece when it comes to this semi-ballad, but it definitely does not annoy the audience with embarrassing details. And, of course, it sets the stage for the power riffs that open the next track “C11 H17 and the rest I have forgotten” (my old chemistry teacher isn’t surprised). It’s a decent track, but the following neckbreaker “Burst” comes much closer to the real thing. Especially its nervous lines at the beginning as well as its explosiveness are impressive.

Unfortunately, some tracks fall short of expectations “Packaged Rebellion” is acceptable, but it stands in the shadow of the opener or “Only”. “Hy Pro Glo” sees Bush doing the Ozzy (which is always a bad idea) and when it comes to “1000 Points of Hate”, I am still undecided: is it pretty cool or just noisy mediocrity? And yes, it is not just the closer (with a great, intense ending) that reveals their newly found weakness for zeitgeist inspired harmonies that made Alice in Chains famous. Either way, those of you who do not always look for the pure dogma, can lend an ear to the album. 30 years after its release, “Sound of White Noise” can be an interesting and good historic document. The spirit of the time could not significantly hurt the quality of the songs.

Rating: 7.4 out of 10

Review by Jack on May 6, 2003.

Mourning Beloveth’s first album in “Dust” was the sort of record that was capable of delivering a cunning swift jab if you weren’t expecting it, while their latest album “The Sullen Sulcus” flat out delivers the hammering blow that only Mike Tyson and Lenox Lewis were capable of inflicting.

“The Sullen Sulcus” tops “Dust” in every way possible (and that is no easy feat. “Dust” was a pretty special doom record). For those of you aren’t so familiar with Mourning Beloveth they are a band who hail from Ireland that, as you can probably assume by now, play doom metal. Doom metal in the format of long drawn out compositions, ambitious guitar riffs, deep, dark depressive lyrics, harsh conflicting vocal styles, and death/tortured clean wails. I think you can see what I am getting at. Now doom/death metal in that sort of format sounds quite appealing if pulled off correctly, but most bands unfortunately fail to truly nail the formula on the head adequately enough. However, while many bands hover around creating something successful and appealing in the doom/death world, Mourning Beloveth flat out devastate on all fronts.

Vocalists Frank and Darren are perfectly suited for the kind of interplay you wish to see between vocal styles. When talking of doom perfection in vocals I think someone of Aaron Stainthorpe from My Dying Bride is around the benchmark to strive for. These two guys from Mourning Beloveth are floating around near Aaron in creating a standard of vocal style that plays out beautifully for a doom record. The contrast between the gruff and grim tone of the harsh vocals and the tormented, suffering moans of the clean vocals is exquisite to say the least.

I could pick out simply any detail from “The Sullen Suclus” and give you a glowing in-depth response as to how magnificent this record is. “The Sullen Sulcus” is the sort of record that excites me quite a lot. I won’t sit here and blow smoke up these guys’ arses, though. That is wasting your time in which you should be hopping on down to your local record store and picking this record up.

Bottom Line: Mourning Beloveth. Remember the band. “The Sullen Sulcus.” Remember the record. Buy.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 8
Originality: 8
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.6 of 10