They Always Rely Too Much On Me, But They Don't Realize, It's Not Up To Me.

Paramaecium's third outing (not including their "Repentance" EP which I don't have, but would love to get) is a return to the heavy doom dirges as heard on their first album "Exhumed Of The Earth". "A Time To Mourn" however is more accessible with shorter songs and sing a long choruses. The doom is still strong and the melancholy thick with more influence on clean vocals over the death metal style of the earlier albums.

"A Time To Mourn" begins with "A Moment" which like any given moment in life, feels like a snap shot of a song. No real beginning and no real end. I find it fitting that the same melody is used for the album closer "Unceasing". Both songs are melodic and uplifting with angelic female vocals and moving guitars building and fading out without ever feeling complete. ~Life is a moment ... Unceasing~.

And from this moment we fade out to the thrash-like doom tune "I'm Not To Blame". This has a killer riff and is heavy and driving, but also has Paramaecium's doom influences such as the female vocals and clean male vocals. Perhaps its thrash master Ian Arkley's influence, but the solo is nice and the song pummels. This is my favourite song on the album, followed by the epic "Live For The Day" which is the longest song at over 9 minutes, but never lags. The riffs are thrashiliously doomy and the mix of clean male and female vocals with Andrew's death growl create a darkly bleak, but not surprisingly uplifting due to the nice solo work in the middle and towards the end. A doom/death masterpiece. This would be my favourite, but "I'm Not To Blame" is such a killer tune.

Paramaecium's signature sound is still strong on the darker songs like "My Thoughts" which sludges through crushing riffs and death metal vocals. As well as "Betrayed Again" with it's sombre use of flute and violin melodies to accompany the dark and bleak riffs. This song only uses clean male vocals and that enhances the bitter undertones.

"Even The Walls" has the doomy feel of "Betrayed Again" with more of sinister feel and more emphasis on death metal vocals. However, it is more melodically moving and sing a long-ish. "Enter In Time" has a haunting intro before kicking in with a very hooky chorus. The haunting-ness is not lost, but blends nicely with the hooks.

This album is one my favourites and I think that's due to the song writing prowess of Andrew Tompkins doom style and Ian Arkley's thrash roots and frankly the fun drum work of Mark Orr. It all comes together in a very enjoyable doom metal album. A fine listen.

Up next is Paramaecium's last album "Echoes Of The Ground" which caps this bands solid career.