Celestial Season – Mysterium I

The Netherlands’ Mysterium has had a bit of an interesting run since their inception in 1991. They seemed to go pretty steady till about 2000 and then just suddenly stopped putting out albums till reconvening in 2020. With changes in vocalists and a change in style of music over the years, some might feel they’ve been as up and down as groups like Vital Remains or Machine Head, going from Death/Doom to Stoner/Doom and back again. Since 2020 though with their original line up it seems like they’ve found solid footing again, and that footing continues to ring true with their 2022 release of a bit of a double album with ‘Mysterium I’ and ‘Mysterium II.’ Double, even triple albums, can be a bit risky, even as separate releases. Sometimes they work wonders like the juxtaposition of Portugal Gothic Metal Moonspell’s ‘Alpha Noir/Omega White’ which had one disc showcase their heavier side and the other their softer, and sometimes the joint releases feel wasted, like Swiss Black Metal outfit Schammasch’s ‘Triangle’ which was 2 discs of ‘more of the same’ and then almost straight ambiance. Innovative, but a bit overdone. Thankfully, it sounds like Celestial Season continues their path of sound from the previous effort without too much experimentation and still plenty of variation.

For those who have not heard these guys before, they do a style of Death Doom that is a cross between My Dying Bride meets Draconian. There might be traces here and there of their Stoner Doom days in the late 90s/ early 2000s, but it is only in the riffs and groove of the riffs. A lot of the tracks are chock full of those mournful riffs backed by cello and violin such as on ‘Black Water Mirrors’ which is an excellent My Dying Bride tribute with discernable growls, emotion filled riffs, and overall just that excellent doom and gloom feel without feeling overproduced. Other tracks like ‘The Golden Light of Late Day’ are a little more slower, drawn out, and more Draconian without the female vocal additions or piano. The idea of the track is to evoke as much ‘clean’ depression as possible. There are some spoken word bits such as on ‘This Glorious Summer’ which add a new level of Doom dynamics that are similar to Draconian and early My Dying Bride, but the riffs are a little more repetitive and not as engaging as a trade off. A little more in the traditional Death Doom area versus Gothic Doom, fans of the likes of a band of Evadne might find it more appealing with its stripped down, guitar focused feel with less of the orchestral elements there.

The Stoner Doom sound is slightly present on a track like ‘Endgame’ which has a very different feel to the music: much more upbeat and almost betraying the atmosphere the album has set so far. It isn’t a bad track, but a much more different feel overall, like hearing ‘Darkness and Hope’ and then ‘Heart Shaped Abyss’ from Moonspell’s ‘Darkness and Hope.’  Still groove laden Doom, but less depression. Thankfully for those who want that gloom feel ‘All That is Known’ shifts right back to the bleeding guitar pace, layered snarls and growls, and symphonics for that drudging feel. Even the title track soaks in atmosphere with a bit more reverb and Funeral Doom feel, but continues up with the whole gloom feel, especially with the chant/ male choral vocals and violin outro. Overall, ‘Mysterium I’ is a great start to the dual story and also a strong example of well produced Doom Death can sound like. These days a lot of artists in the genre tend of oversoak their music in distortion to help add atmosphere, but Celestial Season use just the right amount and instead use other elements like the violin and cello to help evoke the atmosphere as a whole. The album does feel a little short with just 7 tracks and barely 40 minutes, and with the longest track being 6 minutes it is a little odd they don’t throw in at least 1 epic as Doom bands always tend to do, but perhaps part 2 will grant such an offering.