MY LAMENT is a death/doom band from Belgium who formed in 2002. ‘The Season Came Undone’ is their second full length album; they have also released a demo and an EP. ‘The Season Came Undone,’ has a lot of melodic and Gothic textures to its music and will definitely hit home for fans of the famous early 90’s Gothic/doom scene. Heavy riffs are intertwined with melodies and harmonies that bring about a certain regal sorrow to their pedigree. The production and mix is massive, a full sound that allows each detail to be heard with supreme clarity. Their sound would be that much darker if the album didn’t sound quite as ‘bright’ and open but the songs themselves are more than gloomy enough to make up for it; each track is a different storm cloud as they pass by the horizon.

The lead guitar is very slick, melodic yet with enough flash to keep it interesting and to set itself apart from the other lines of melancholy. The drums in particular are impressive, very complimentary of the songs as a whole. The bass is melodic when needed, heavy when called for, and just an all around solid low end. The vocals shift from deep, Gothic cleans to low, menacing growls. Perhaps the vocals are standard fare for this style but when it's done as well as it is here, it is hard to complain.

The album opens with ‘Everything Goes To Waste,’ and wastes no time in throwing in a crunchy rhythm backdrop with flowing lead guitar capturing tears in music form. The subtle keys are a nice though, a gentle breeze that nudges against the edges of the song. The guitar solo in the later half is something else, a low key ripper that fits perfectly into the song. ‘Fallacy’ floats upon a sea of double bass and low death growls but transitions smoothly to more melodic waters and cleans. Something this depressing shouldn’t be this catchy but it is and the band succeeds greatly at it. I really enjoyed the vocal harmonies in the song’s back half and the solo that ushers the song’s end.

Doom doesn’t always have to be long—’Oh, Fall’ is three and a half minutes long but packs quite the punch to it. The rhythms are a bit faster, more galloping and the drums strike with lighting precision. The song is all clean vocals too and, as always, I’m impressed how well they work with the heavier style of music. The instrumental ‘Something Almost Being Said,’ is a ripper in places too with some black metal influences. It takes a lot for instrumental music to catch my ears but this song does the trick, as it is balanced between lighter passages and heavier tones.

‘Life Will Be The Death Of Me,’ was a single that was released in 2018 and now it is being included on this album. It mentions the track is remastered; I haven’t heard the original so I can’t comment on how it sounds compared to the older version but this one sounds as great as the rest of the album. This song is definitely one of the best ones on the album and surprisingly catchy as well with a good chorus and a thick guitar tone. The movement between 4:43 and the end of the song is great, a non stop barrage of riffs and Gothic atmosphere.

MY LAMENT’s ‘The Season Came Undone’ is one of the best surprises/discoveries for me in this second half of 2023. Any fan of old school death/melodic/Gothic doom metal will definitely need to add this to their collection.