Record Review: Mourningside AD - Confessions of Disbelief

Something I have learned in my years of being active in the hardcore scene is that there are two types of bands: bands who establish themselves, break up, start a new band and ride the wave of popularity that an "ex members of..." band generates and then there are the bands who go out, play their hearts out and gain a following from that. Mourningside AD is the latter. If you guys read my review of their demo, you know I was nuts about it. A band that reminded me of Mean Season, had very personal and introspective lyrics, and did not try and use any type of "ex members of..." publicity. I messaged Damon (vocalist) and asked if the band would be interested in having us do a review of the record. He responded and a link was sent. He also explained that the band had to change its name by adding the AD because there was already a band with the same name, though broken up, and they asked them to change it (shades of American Night...er...Give Up The Ghost). I put the tracks on my iPod and listened as I walked to class. The new 7 inch, Confessions of Disbelief" is a huge leap forward for the band in terms of musical progression, recording, and overall maturation. On the demo, I heard alot of influence from Mean Season (hey not that thats a bad thing, they do take their name from a MS song) but they have added influences from Unbroken, Snapcase, Groundwork, and 108. The vocals are very reminiscent of "Life Love Regret" era Unbroken and there is plenty of the 90s style clean vocals. Lyrics deal with personal issues while the song "Clear" (re-reorded from their demo) seems to attack religion with lyrics such as "Selling the world salvation, your lies are crystal clear for all to see who choose to see". To my understanding the band is not a straight edge band (they do contain members who are) and the song "Life Deceived" does seem to carry a very strong drug free message (unless Im misinterpreting it) by stating "Liberation must be gained. Until we're free. I will abstain". The recording overall is top with all instruments at the appropriate levels, nothing seems to be too high or too low. The guitar tone is warm and heavy but not too muddy, the drums sound full while the bass provides the right amount of low end. Hardpress Records did a great job by asking to release this for the band. The band has been steadily playing out in California since they started and are currently gearing up for a west coast tour in November with dates in California, Washington, and Nevada planned. Overall, the Mourningside AD record is well worth your money and will surely be on my top 10 list as the year comes to a close.

Mourningside AD on Myspace

Mourningside AD "Confessions of Disbelief" is available through Big Cartel