Track Listing
1. The serpentine scrolls 2. Canticle 3. Solinari 4. Nightfall infernal 5. All the glory� 6. �All the loss 7. Blight 8. The last sunrise Year: 1999 Label: Relapse - Official Site |
Morgion - 'Solinari' - By S. Regan
The gentle and eerie gongs, surrounded by enchanting monks fill the air as a slow guitar chords build an almost monastery-esque environment. This is the world of Morgion. Often eerie. Often Brutal. Always instance. On their Sophomoric release, Morgion take their Epic Doom laden riffs to new and diverse levels, showing both growth as a band and progression as musicians - contrasting the melodic, often piano driven music drawn by grave, often spoken vocals, with switches to the afore mentioned doom laden aggressive riffs not far from something you'd find on a My Dying Bride album, lead by the now much more intense, dry lung growlings of vocalist Jeremy Peto. On 'Solinari' Morgion take you on a journey of both the beauty and the aggressive power of music, binding the two mediums as one epic masterpiece. And with songs like the opening �The Serpentine Scrolls� and �Nightfall Infernal� clocking in at over ten minutes a piece � you don�t get much more epic than that. Both of these songs take you on a whirlwind ride, going from very slow paced and melodic to fast paced and intense and back again. You might think that, when faced with such a huge task of sitting down to ten minute song, a person would grow tired and bored, but Morgion seem so at one with their own music that you can�t help but be drawn into every minute, every note and every line of lyrical beauty. On the track Canticle, Morgion showcase their ability to intricate every form of their musical styles. The first few seconds contain very balladic and heartfelt piano work, accompanied soon after by a slow pacing drum beat, which is then lead by very dark and, at times, whispering vocals (�For I, foretell�) � all leading you into a false sense of calm and ease � all of which is soon very much reversed after just under a minute when Peto�s vocals shift up around 50 gears and you hear the angry screams of �The coming, of God! Ascending Heaven, Descending Hell�. It is of course at this same moment that the soft pianos and slow pacing drums become very much a distant memory, as they are replaced in an instant by crushingly fast guitar riffs, upbeat drum work and thunderous basslines that rumble the depths of your stomach. Then, as soon as it had left, you return to the monastery and the monks. Only too soon find a happy medium. This album isn�t short of down points however, although they may be shallow in existence. One most definite down point that I�d say, is the title track, although beautiful in itself, to me it just seems to be begging to be longer and more predominant than it�s two and half minute time slot. Overall, fans of the more (dare I say) commercial or perhaps, lively as is more appropriate, Death Metal, such as In Flames or Soilwork may not like this album. However, fans of more epic and emotional Death Metal bands such as My Dying Bride or Opeth will most definitely find delight in the purchasing of this album. Metal Obsessive Grade: 96% |