Mourning Beloveth for the unloved and the weak at heart

Mourning Beloveth began in winter 1992 but it wasn't until 1996 that they recorded their first, untitled, demo with Darren (vocals), Frank (guitar),Brian (bass), Tim (drums). Recorded in eight hours with Adrian Butler at the desk this demo contains two songs and is a raw indication of where Mourning Beloveth stands today. Adrian joined on bass soon after and Brian switched to guitar. This was the line up that recorded the highly acclaimed AutumnalFires demo in 1998 (even receiving ’Demo of the issue’ in Moondance magazine).

Autumnal Fires could be regarded as a 40-minute piece of music as the songs were intertwined with classical piano and it showed a huge progression in the writing and recording stakes. Mainly classed as Doom/Death this was the first step into achieving a sound of their own and it saw the integration of clean vocals. An extensive tour of Ireland followed being topped off by a support slot to none other than Cathedral in May 1999. Over 1200 copies of Autumnal Fires were sold throughout the underground and the MB name spread.Mourning Beloveth, now brimming with confidence and a renewed vigour decided to take a bold step, like so many of their contemporaries, and record in the famous Academy studios with Mags at the helm. What was produced after seven intense days of recording was ’Dust’, a sixty-six minute Doom masterpiece harking back to the days of the early '90's Doom/Death scene. Dust is a mixture of old and new songs and this creates some of the heaviest and most melancholic music ever. The atmosphere and originality is helped by the greater usage of clean and growling vocals and the perfect production. The strength of the material is helped in no small way by the fact that the same line up has been together for 5 years at the time of recording Dust.With 300 promos being sent to various magazines the album took the written press by storm and it has not received one bad review. The album has now sold out of it's first print run and Sentinel have decided to re-release Dust with new artwork, a new song and an old song-all re-mastered by Stuart Anstis. Dust will be officially released via Shellshock Distribution in mid September.While this is happening the MB crew are busying themselves in the initial stages of promotion for their new album The Sullen Sulcus which was recorded earlier this year again in Academy and it should see the light of day in October 2002.

interview with Adrian on 25-11-2002

Please give us a short introduction of yourself?
Doomy tidings Twan and Brutalism on this dirty wintry November morning. I have just rolled into work in my chariot of Doom and I will begin to answer this interview as the boss isn’t in today. I am Adrian, one fifth of Mourning Beloveth and the 4 string plucker of the mighty leaden strings of Doom. We play heavy melancholic and depressing Doom Metal for the lost, the unloved, the soul destroyed and the weak at heart.

Explain the band name and why the band started in 1992?
The band name in kinda self explanatory in a way. “We are mourning our beloveth lost ones”. The band started in 1993 after the demise of a band called Traumatised. The original bass player/vocalist and band name giver left soon after Darren joined on vocals. Just before this Frank had joined on guitar to accompany the only original member of Mourning Beloveth now Tim, on drums.

Why did it take so long to record the first demo?
That’s because I wasn’t in the band at the time ha ha . MB suffered from an adequate amount of apathy in the first few years of its life , even up to and shortly after the recording of the 2nd demo. This was quickly dispelled though after a few things like setting the date to record the 1st album and supporting Cathedral took place. Money was a factor too in those days because as usual in Ireland things like studios were even expensive in those days. It took 3 years I suppose to take the first bold step to a studio to record together as a band with Mourning Beloveth

Did you know the band before when you produced the demo? And why did you join them later on?
I knew all the members of the band before I joined in 1996 so it was kinda easy. We had all been friends before and went to school with each other etc. I had been in a thrash band (Hemlock) with Brian and Frank for 3 or 4 years .We recorded a demo together and played about 40 gigs before we finally split in 1995. The first Mourning Beloveth demo was recorded at a music college I was studying at and I was the engineer/producer for that session. It was a college project and had to be done overnight so it was going to be a very speedy affair and we were all under a lot of pressure. Tim had come from work that day to the studio, stayed up all night and went to work the next day again, dedication for ye!. Alan from Primordial was also on mixing duties that night too. It was recorded and mixed in 10 hours over all. 2 songs later and 1 piano interlude. After that demo was pressed and promoted etc I was asked to join the band on bass and Brian went back to playing his main instrument the guitar. The line-up has remained the same until this day, nearly 7 years later.

The second demo took again two years. Is that because you play Doom (slow metal)?
It had a lot to do with it I suppose-Admittedly too the reason again was apathy and a certain intake of a lethargic substance which now we see stunted the development of the band for a period but on the positive side it made us more wary of exactly what we wanted and we finely crafted our own burgeoning sound during that time.

Do you think Doom is a style to listen to, release your daily stress or something else?
I think so. I think one can listen to Doom when one gets up in the morning or last thing before going to bed. Doom metal can reach inside your mind and get behind your thoughts to help filter out all the shit and bad thoughts. A tonic for the mind...

Is it difficult to hold the attention when playing on stage? Does the crowd expect a mosh part after some minutes?
Its not difficult really. We do try to get lost in the mood and feeling of the songs when we play. This is important and also done in rehearsal. When everyone is swaying gently to the riffs and all caught up in the whole meaningful and chaotic mood of it all we can sense it and that’s when the tingles creep up your spine and makes you very proud to be a part of something as special as Mourning Beloveth. There are the odd bits when the crowd can mosh to our songs and I suppose that’s when the slow headbanging and reflective listening comes to a head and the release that the moshing exhorts gives a thought provoking sense of relief to the crowd. There are very few mosh bits in our sets normally but the crowd do manage to go apeshit at some time. Playing sombre reflective music as we do allows the listener to indulge oneself into his/her own misery and reach inside to grip their tormented souls allowing the music to wash over them cleansing them of the brooding darkness and refreshing their outlook on this shit life.

How does the crowd react during the gig? Has that any affect on you?
It is great to see such reactions as I have mentioned above and rewarding to see the connection between our music to the listeners and back to ourselves on stage. It is normal to see the crowd standing still in a trance like state watching wondering and listening intentively to us and reflecting on their inner thoughts/demons.

Did you played with some well known bands? Do the top acts come to Ireland to play?
Well we did play with Cathedral in 1998(Greetings Lee) and then last year we played with Cradle of Filth in Ireland for 2 dates. This was a great experience especially and for the first time we stepped onto the professional and international stage and from just 2 gigs we came back with a wealth of experience and a better outlook our career as a band. It’s a pity now that the only guy Paul; who spoke to us from Cradle Paul has now left-He brought us out a big bong after our soundcheck to chill us out-Not that we needed it anyay ha ha but it was a very nice gesture from someone in a such a big band. I also spoke with Adrian for a while which was one of my highlights of that weekend.

About 3 years ago myself and Paul Kearns(Arcane Sun) started Emerald promotions and started to bring over international metal bands. Our first being Cathedral,then Anathema and then Morbid Angel. Since then we have recruited Fergal(H)Holmes to the team and have brought bands like Immortal-Dismember-Cannibal Corpse-The Haunted-MDB-Marduk-Nile-Kreator and many more to Ireland. As a result Paul and H have just finished tour managing the Uk/Ire leg of the last Kreator tour so things are going well. You can check out our site at www.emeraldpromotions.8m.com . Emerald will be promoting the first gig of our tour next year too, a nice send off.

How many days of the year does it rain in Ireland?
It’s fucking raining here most of the time. I think we got 1 week of ok Summer weather this year. It can be quite depressing during the winter period but now with the changing world climate this happens in the summer a lot now. I remember the summer periods being better when I was younger but alas those days are gone. It’s a great country to play doom metal though ha ha. I reckon the weather has an underlying influence on the melancholy Irish musicians hold too.

How proud are you when Dust is re released? Making a lot of money?
Oh yes, we’ve made a shit load actually-no not really. I’ve actually been able to pay myself and the band a royalty from the Sentinel sales which is a bit strange but nice too to be able to get something back and put some money into the band bank account. Sentinel is now being distributed by Shellchock in Ire/Uk and some parts of Europe. We are signing contracts this weekend for distribution in Canada with USA and South America to follow soon. This means all the Sentinel stuff will be available worldwide soon-So we’ve got off to a good start with only 3 releases on the label so far. ‘Dust’ will be licenced to Irond in Russia in the next few weeks and another company in Indonesia to follow on cassette format. Aftermath have licences worked out for ‘The Sullen Sulcus’ in the north/south USA so things are really happening for Mourning Beloveth all over.

What is the progress of the new album? Not afraid of the high expectations? Do you already found a label for the new album? Or also on Sentinel?
The new album was recorded last April/May in Academy again. This time we spent 10 days recording and recorded 6 songs. We just intended to record 5 songs for the new album and another for the re-release of ‘Dust’ but ended keeping all 6 songs for ‘The Sullen Sulcus’. The final result was something we had hoped for and now beholds the fruits of our ambition. A heavy as fuck album with more riffs than ‘Dust’ more intensity and lots of melody. We approached a good few labels with promo copies of the new one and Aftermath Music in Norway were the most interested in taking us on so we signed with them a few months ago. So far I can see them doing an excellent and we praise Haavard for giving us this opportunity. Scream Mag in Sweden have already described the new cd as “Heavier than a pregnant elephant” so that just about captures the element of heaviness I mean. Hammer Mag in Germany gave it 6/7 with it coming in a s the 10th best review of the issue and top score for a new band. So I guess it has reached our expectations. Now its up to the listener and general buying public when it goes on official release next month.

How many days of the week can they find you in a pub?
Me, I’m not really a big pub person anymore. I used to drink a lot more when I was younger but now I just save myself for gigs/band stuff etc. Our drummer Tim is the alco in the band with every day off work spent in the pub. The rest of us spend time indoor’s being miserable fucks.

Descibe what a typical Irish pub looks like?
Ok, you walk in the main door, nod at the barman and if you are a regular he pours your usual drink and if not it is understood you mean you want a pint of Guinness. Usually the well seasoned alcoholics are slumped across the bar and sometimes you might spill some drink on them whilst retrieving your own drink from the barman- some react with a mumbling “ aahh fuck aaahhgggrrhh jeasus jfuckkk sarrggggaggggeeeee ah go an ye bollix” no more than that and then suck the spillage from their shirt he he. A good country pub will have an open fire and a relaxed surroundings with a good draught blowing through to remind you to get drunk so as to not feel the cold. In the cities and towns there are big commercial “superpubs” mainly constructed to get the drinking folk inside and empty their pockets. They range from you cold stone wall draughty type to your over the top plastic walled watered down beer ones. Ireland has a strong pub culture and most decisions to do with the countries past present and future are made there.

How do you see the future for the band? Do you have a wish?
I wish for us to become more successful and to gain more respect for the true Doom Metal we play-to play successfully on our European tour next year-to play with more international bands and sell lots of cd’s

Is the band a hobby or does it take a big part of your daily life?
At the moment Mourning Beloveth cannot become a major part of our lives as we all have to work. It is major hobby allright but only as far as we can allow ourselves. Myself and Darren play the major roles in the business/promotion end of things etc and my work with Sentinel also to promote the band even further. Now we have Aftermath to do this end of things but that doesn’t stop us just because we are signed. Its not a time to sit back and let Aftermath continue what we started-we will always do as much as we can if not more as long as we see it fit to do so.

Say something to promote the band even if they kick you out of it?
Buy our new cd ‘The Sullen Sulcus’ next month from Aftermath www.aftermath-music.com

Come and see us on our tour next year www.doominationoreurope.com

Buy the re-release of our first cd ‘Dust’ from Sentinel-Extra tracks and new artwork.

Place an order for our split 7” to be released next January-Ltd to 300 copies on Sentinel www.sentinalireland.com.

Last rites?
Thank you Twan for this interview, Sorry for the delay in sending it back but anyway, I hope to meet you and lots more people when we play in Holland next February on the 20th in Rotterdam with Morgion (Usa), The Prophecy (Uk) and Pantheist (Hol). Doom on!