Album Review: MOURNING Blinded By Hate

Mourning
Blinded By Hate
Ossuary Industries
http://www.facebook.com/MourningNJ
This is an earlier release from the New Jersey black/death metal band, having been recorded in December of 2004 when the old Myspace was still an active social network and the corporate sellout hadn’t yet happened. This was also when extreme music still belonged solely to the underground; MTV and VH1 had just started including B/M and D/M bands in rotation. People bought CDs on a regular basis, went to shows as often, and internet downloading was a non-issue (with the exception of Metallica vs Napster). The five cuts recorded for this EP retain that exclusivity many of us recall from the 90s. We all know what has happened in metal since then, with those stations and others introducing the underground to every trend jumper who got tired of their pop records (smile). But in the early part of the decade we had that by-the-fans-for-the-fans attitude by which sincerity and falsity were easier to differentiate. The material on Blinded By Hate is mostly straightforward black/death crossover with unexpected time changes making just enough appearances to sustain your interest and have you wondering where they’ll go next. It could just be me but hints of Marduk, Internal Bleeding and Carcass showed themselves in the song structure and vocal arrangements. The closest they approach Swedish black metal are Impending Doom and Embrace The Apocalypse, the first and last songs respectively. Bands like Mourning help me stay in touch with the time the term “underground metal” had a clear definition. -Dave Wolff

LINEUP
Mike: Guitars, vocals, bass
J.J.: Drums
Bill: Bass, guitars

TRACK LISTING
1. Impending Doom
2. Entormented Visions Of Domination
3. The Ballad Of Joel
4. Destroying The Innocence
5. Embrace The Apocalypse