Mourning Knight - Mourning Knight

Mourning Knight

Mourning Knight
​self-released; 2021

By Jamie Funk

Mourning Knight is a group from New York that was started in the 1990s as a vehicle for the compositions and poems of Jason Brower. They recently released a collection of Brower’s songs on a five-track self-titled EP Mourning Knight. Brower mentions: “The material is heavily influenced by the atmospheres and musical soundscapes of the progressive seventies, passion, drama, and a sense of the cinematic are brought together with lyrics that convey the darker, melancholy side of life.”

The EP to my ears does have a ’70s aesthetic down to its bone but also early ’80s bands as well. “Seance on a Wet Afternoon” is a thirteen-plus-minute song. There’s no doubt it’s an epic song and even some sections which clearly reminded me of Pink Floyd. Every time the song sounds like it’s going to end it continues with another part. There are breakdowns, grooves and it is filled to the brim with dynamic parts.

The shortest song in the batch is “Playing the Fool” which is about five-minutes long. This song is more of a ballad all the way through and the similarities to Pink Floyd felt apparent to me. The song is going for a grand and cosmic vibe.

“Blood of Martyrs” was a highlight. It was one of my favorite vocal melodies but more interesting were some of the experimental sections like around the two-minute mark. There are some really cool sounding instrumental breakdown sections which so far felt the most like straight progressive rock.

“The Blindman’s Window” is another pretty epic song but the most grand of all has to be “Inside This Wonderland.” The song is very hypnotic, dreamlike and atmospheric. It’s a bit of a slow burn but felt like a very fitting closer. 

​This album felt like it came from a different decade. Suffice it to say fans of some of the aforementioned bands and genres should love this. Recommended.

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