Review Summary: Another easily overlooked Saint Vitus album but one that might secretly be their best
Like the jump from Saint Vitus’s debut to Hallow’s Victim, Mournful Cries plays like an upbeat extension of Born Too Late. But while Hallow’s Victim seemed to play up some deliberate contrasts, honing in on psych rock flourishes makes this album feels like a more natural path forward. Even when a song like “The Creeps” starts off on a punky route, it has more of a stoner-garage vibe than their Black Flag-derived roots.
Much of this could be attributed to Wino getting to put more of his personal stamp on the material. In addition to his vocals continuing to provide that grounded vibe, he begins to provide supplementary guitar that contrasts Chandler’s stark contrasts with a harder hustle. “Bitter Truth” and the closing “Looking Glass” (the first Vitus songs that Chandler didn’t write) are especially indicative of this, playing out like a couple of The Obsessed’s hazy biker jams put through a slow filter.
This is balanced out by the other songs’ continued devotion to drawn out misery. “Dragon Time” and “Shooting Gallery” may be lyrical opposite with the former’s medieval fantasy and the latter’s heroin den grit, but they draw from a similar pool of crashing chords and darkly pained atmosphere. “The Troll” threads the needle with the album’s slowest riffs and a lyric that used its metaphor as a more direct means of isolationist expression.
While Mournful Cries may be another easily overlooked album in Saint Vitus’s classic run, it might secretly be their strongest effort. The band’s chemistry is at its peak here, exhibiting a full production job and feeling more balanced than before. The songs might not have the iconic status of something like “Born Too Late,” but they are all excellently written with the brief overall length somehow working with the slow but tight pace. It’s hardly underrated but I think it could stand to be less overlooked.
