Mourning Sign

(Godhead)
by Scott Hefflon

Ouch! I was expecting somber dirge metal. The sorrowful name and less-is-less CD cover did not prepare me for the opening assault. A roar. Hyperspeed drumming. Lightning leads. Then the Entombed-esque chop and slash attack comes in with a dramatic burst of speed to break up the chugging. A few choruses flip between snarling and hummable melody, a rolling guitar style similar to old Death and Kreator is contrasted by the stomping of recent hardcore metal, and the beats show off a new superspeed drummer. Creative (and sporadic) use of synths, discordant noise riffs, melodic solos and far, far more, make Mourning Sign a true cross-genre masterpiece of metal.