…Lost (Self Released)

 This demo I’ve got in my hands right now is the second release of this Italian Black Metal band I’ve got the honour of listening to and reviewing, and I must say it shows a remarkable progression in comparison with its predecessor “An Abyss Called Life”. The marked influences of bands such Darkthrone, Burzum, Nargaroth and Judas Iscariot are still there, as patent as before… so don’t expect to find much originality here, but this time Mr. Sacrifice (mastermind and only member) have decided to left behind some of the more speedy passages, maintaining only the “strictly necessary” blasting parts, and embraces completely the mid to slow guitar driven rhythms, with really good results… The drumming problem present at “An Abyss Called Life” is completely gone, the mid paced performance and/or a new kind of mixing seems to have resolved completely the somewhat annoying dissonance at their previous demo. The bitter, sombre and infernal atmospheres created by the hypnotic and blurry riffing are more depurated than before… the band seems to have reached a more “personal” sound but, as I mentioned before, still intrinsically connected with the traditional sound of early 90’s Black Metal. The production of “…Lost” is still raw as hell, saturated and electric, but fits with the whole underground Black Metal concept, the main (and only) problem with the sound seems to be the final mix, the whole music sound pretty low, making it barely audible if you are using your Cd player at “normal” volume …but just have to turn it higher… not big deal. Mourning Soul definitely honours its name at this demo, delivering a mournful, harsh and hatefully raw orthodox Black Metal… By the way, the band has finished the split Cd with the Chinese Black Metal band Original Sin, which contains two new, apparently unreleased tracks plus a Mayhem cover…  Black Metal diehards…keep an eye on this band… (AP)