It`s gloomy Novermber morning when I first listen to “Mournument”, the latest release from Deinonychus. Fall has set in, trees are losing their leafs and Raindrops are falling on me as I take a nightly stroll along the ancient buildings of my hometown. This is the twilight zone between night and day, a time of melancholy and dark thoughts. When the intro has faded away and the first track “Salus Deceived” starts I`m filled with a desolate feeling. Marco`s desperate howls and screams pull me deep under in a depressive mood and the music that accompanies the vocals is of such a doomy nature that it doesn`t cheer me up either.

I hear the desolation and despair in Marco`s voice and tears fill my eyes. Not very often have I heard music that had such an impact on me as this release and most of all this particular track. The journey into misery and grief continues with “Odourless Alliance” and the listener is dragged deeper into a pool of depressive thoughts.

Deinonychus is, above all, a band that creates an atmosphere, a dark, black atmosphere. They cherish this rather than adventurous technical riffs or innovative songwriting. In fact the music is not very spectacular at all; it’s all solid doom death metal with a heavy attention on the keyboards. Some may compare it to early My Dying Bride or even Paradise Lost. The music is played solid as a rock but what makes it really interesting are the vocals by Marco. He maybe is not the most talented grunter or singer but what an overwhelming emotion this man puts in his lyrics.

I wonder if he ever smiles.

Maybe an excerpt from “Tantalised In This Labyrinth” says it all :
“As in a cellar: I look upon four dark walls.
While the sun smiles to others, but me.”

The story of Deinonychus as a band is also not one to be laughing about. It all started as a one man-band created by Marco Kehren in 1992 and in those 10 years they have changed labels 5 times because of disagreements. This particular album lay on the shelves for almost a year before it was released by their new label My Kingdom Music. Hopefully the relation with My Kingdom Music will also soon come to an end; maybe this will be inspiration for another album (just kidding). “Mournument” was released over a year ago but was sent to me just recently and I think it’s too good to leave it unmentioned.

Beautiful poetry and a beautiful cd but one I can not bear to listen everyday. This kind of music is best consumed in the fall, on a dark rainy day, or maybe you should take Marco`s advice:

“For optimal enjoyment of this album, please play with full loudness,
Preferably playing it at 4:00 AM, while consuming a bottle of red wine,
and having a bath. Use any sharp items like a razorblade after finishing the album.”

deinonychus website