The album concept of releasing two connected EP’s has a couple of benefits but also drawbacks compared to an album. The cynical reason is that now two products can be sold, but beyond that, it enables the band to have a different workflow. For a band like Mournful Congregation, whose material is both epic in scope but meticulously crafted, it might be less exhausting and frankly more realistic to produce works like these two interconnected EP’s, considering that life demands much more out of musicians than just producing their work. The challenge is that, by connecting the two EP’s thematically, the same has to be done musically. Are the two EP’s individual stories, or do they form a cohesive whole? These are questions that at least arise when listening to The Exuviae of Gods. The first EP in the series had been my favorite EP of the year, and I cheated just a little bit by actually accepting it as an EP, considering it broke the 30 minute barrier. It had the benefit to exist without any expectation from a previous iteration and Mournful Congregation simply doing their thing is enough for me to hand out a positive score. With this second one, I am more inclined to judge it as the conclusion to the setup.
There is noticeably less splendor to Part II. The main section of “Heads Bowed” is mainly constructed from what is, for Mournful Congregation, relatively simple counterpoint. It appears almost like the band’s earlier material and surprisingly stripped down. That the song works as well as it does is a testament to Mournful Congregation‘s craft and for their grasp of what makes a good melody even in a tempo as glacial as this. The soundscape, just slightly sparser, still feels like a space to occupy and a melody nonetheless, showcasing how atmosphere never needs to be an excuse to present underwhelming material. I love how the acoustic and the electric guitar trade motifs, like a setup and payoff. Even if the material initially seems restrained, there is a sense of progression as the band dials up their sound to become fuller, more developed and even faster throughout each song. The melodic interplay and soloing in the last song seems like a payoff to not only the song itself, but to the EP and the whole “storyline” for lack of a better word. The whole sense of melody and progression on Part II feels more hopeful, more beautiful than what is on the first EP and it feels like the band earned it. An exuvia is the skin left behind by an insect or reptile after ecdysis. Growth requires leaving something behind and in dying, there is also rebirth. The theme of a pattern of death, growth and rebirth on a cosmic scale is very much on brand for Mournful Congregation and the two albums work wonderfully within the concept the band has set up.
