After taking some 20 years off, Dutch gothic doom-death act Celestial Season roared back in 2020 with a startingly ambitious comeback album called 'The Secret Teachings,' then followed up in April of 2022 with 'Mysterium I.' Now just a scant 7 months later they're back with the second part of a planned trilogy, dropping 'Mysterium II.' For those unfamiliar with Celestial Season's sound, they're in the same space as classic My Dying Bride and early Anathema, with slow-moving, melancholic doom compositions infused with weeping string sections and forlorn piano lines. Since their comeback the band has renewed their '90s gothic doom sound with good results and they know how to cast a pall over a cheery evening. While Mysterium I was a good album full of bleak despair, it suffered from a feeling of sameness and lacked a heavy punch, with things becoming a wash of restrained sadboi gray. 'Mysterium II' picks up where I left off stylistically, but can it find a way to lurch out of the ether and throttle your ennui more forcefully? Let's hope!