UMUR "Mourning Has Broken" is the third full-length studio album by UK, Nottingham based thrash/heavy metal act Sabbat. The album was released through Noise Records in March 1991. It´s the successor to "Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays)" from 1989 and features several lineup changes since the predecessor. Lead vocalist Martin Walkyier has been replaced by Ritchie Desmond, guitarist Simon Jonas has been replaced by Neil Watson, and bassist Fraser Craske has been replaced by Wayne Banks, leaving only guitarist Andy Sneap and drummer Simon Negus from the lineup who recorded the predecessor.

Some artists are able to successfully replace band members and carry on as if nothing had happened, or at least with minimal impact, and even in some cases with an improved sound as a result of the lineup changes, but none of the above apply to Sabbat on "Mourning Has Broken". Especially the change on the lead vocalist spot has had great impact. Not only did Walkyier have a distinct sounding voice and vocal style, but his lyrics and pagan image, were a big part of Sabbat, and although Desmond is actually a skilled vocalist with a strong voice, who generally does a good job on "Mourning Has Broken", he has a hard time bringing anything resembling Walkyier´s intensity and uniqueness to the table.

"Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays)" introduced some longer and more complex compositions, compared to the material on the debut album, but on "Mourning Has Broken", Sabbat fully enters progressive territories, and the music on the album can best be described as a technical thrash/progressive metal release with touches of US power metal. Although some may argue it´s not the best comparison, I actually think Confessor is the most valid reference when describing the sound of "Mourning Has Broken". There´s a similar high pitched, bleak, and toneless quality to the vocal style of Desmond, and although not quite as technical or innovative as Confessor are, Sabbat still come off as a pretty technically well playing act on "Mourning Has Broken" (Negus do seem a bit out of his league here though, and the drumming has a tendency to sound a little stiff and awkward). At times I´m also reminded of an act like Sanctuary.

With the departure of Walkyier out goes the pagan/occult lyrics too, and "Mourning Has Broken" focuses more on bleak (even depressive) social/political/religious issues/topics/observations. This is a dark and heavy release filled to the brim with gloom and despair at the state of the world.

"Mourning Has Broken" features a sound production which is not up to par with what you´d expect from a production from 1991. There´s something wrong with the tone of the instruments (especially the drums) and how they are placed in the mix. Ultimately it´s just not a pleasant sounding production job, and even if the remaining parts of the album (performances, songwriting...etc.) were of a high quality, the sound production would still have a negative influence on my overall impression of the album. The performances and the songwriting are however not at all times of a high quality, and especially the songwriting seems directionless and lacking hooks. Sneap himself has in interviews called the songwriting patchy and said that the tracks were thrown together, and that´s also the feeling you get as a listener, when giving the album a spin (some tracks are decent while others suffer more as a consequence of the patchy songwriting).

When that is said I still think "Mourning Has Broken" is a relatively interesting album. It´s not a great album nor is a particularly memorable release, and it´s questionable if the decision to release the album under the Sabbat monicker was a good one, but there´s still something intriguing about the band´s ability to create a bleak atmosphere, and there are also some really sharp and powerful riffs and lead guitar work featured here. As mentioned above Desmond isn´t as unique a vocalist as Walkyier, but he can hold his own, and his US power metal vocal style (high pitched screaming and deeper and more raw shouting) actually suits the material pretty well. So bad sounding production and patchy songwriting, but predominantly great musicianship and a nicely bleak atmosphere are what characterize "Mourning Has Broken". A 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.