| Rabid Decay (Demo) | 1991 | No label |
After a doomy and definably Morgion sounding intro, the music on this demo is indeed a lot more death-metal then doom-metal. The pace of the music is often very quick to say the least, accompanied by heavy grunts. However, basically every song has their slow parts, with a nearly perfect early death/doom sound to it. This does not only showcase the direction Morgion later would take; it is exceptionally great old-school death/doom from the early nineties as well. 'In the Process' is a great example of this. Ultra slow grinding death/doom mixed in with hyper fast blast-beats.
These days when Doom-metal has become such a complicated genre with so many sub-genres and an equal amount of people arguing about them, it is nice to hear some old school, no nonsense, death/doom again. Most bands, including Morgion themselves, have long left this path in the search for more atmospheric and melodic Doom. Raw Death/Doom such as this is basically a dead genre, only kept alive by the very few and a few underground death-metal bands that accidentally forget to keep their music up-tempo every so often.
All of Morgion's efforts are highly enjoyable, and this demo is no exception. It really is a blast from the past and puts you right back in the early nineties when Death-metal was still a much more popular genre than it is now. And listening carefully you can also hear some of the elements that to this day mark Morgion's sound. Much has changed, but some things have stayed the same. Basically 'Rabid Decay' offers you quality old school Death-metal with some great Death/Doom-metal moments.
1. Intro
2. Drowning In Sorrow
3. I, the Skeptic
4. In the Process
5. Gothic Decorum
6. Encased in Glass
Approx. 30 minutes
| Live Studio Rehersal Demo (Demo) | 1992 | No label |
On to the music now; being an oddity might make a collectors heart beat faster, but in the end it's the music we are really interested in. The quality of the recording and songwriting make it very hard to believe this is a live recorded rehearsal demo in just one go. I've heard demo's of far lesser quality that had more meddling and that weren't played straight live. And I've heard demo's that were and as a result are of a very low quality.
Musically we are still listening to Morgion's early development years. The primordial death-metal soup from which Morgion came crawling forth. This means this Demo is more Death-metal than Doom-metal. There are some slower sections, that hint towards Morgion's later development, but overall this is something for those among us who also appreciate a good blast beat, deafening grunts and fast drumming.
Both the slower and the faster parts are all very well executed. A song like 'What Dwells upon Man' just demands respect. From early Death/Doom traces to blast beats, this song is a real "ear-catcher". The other songs are all of equal quality but especially the slower sections of this track really grabbed my attention.
In short this is a great piece of history of one of today's finest Death/Doom acts. I'm not sure if fans of more romantic, say gothic/doom, would enjoy this release, but I think a good dose of death-metal never hurt anyone. Good quality Death-metal by a better than good band!
1. Chasm
2. Nomads of the Dawn
3. What Dwells upon Man
4. Wither the Storm
Approx. 19 minutes
| Travesty (7" EP) | 1993 | No label |
Morgion still play more Death-metal than Doom-metal on this release, but I absolutely don't mind! Solid riffing, bellowing grunts and rolling drums are excellent head bang material after all. The blast beats are a lot less and the more atmospheric and melodic side of Morgion is slowly starting to show. Where on their 'Live Studio Rehearsal' the songs still packed more power, the recording quality here actually seems a little lower. Musically they also seem to have less spunk so to say.
This actually does not work out too badly at all. While 'Nomads of the Dawn' still starts of with massive blast beats (and also has quite a few throughout the song) overall both songs, in all their raw death-metal goodness, are starting to show a bit more of their emotional side. More effort is made into creating an atmosphere. They aren't nearly as atmospheric as later work by Morgion, in essence these remain raw Death-metal tracks, but the introduction of more atmospheric elements within the raw Death-metal works exceptionally well.
'Travesty' clearly is the link between Morgion’s early demo days and the Atmospheric Death/Doom masters they are now: raw, but they are not afraid anymore to incorporate atmosphere into their music. To sum it all up in one simple sentence: excellent music by excellent musicians!
1. Wither the Storm
2. Nomads of the Dawn
Approx. 19 minutes
| Among Majestic Ruin (CD) | 1996 | Relapse |
"Does Morgion do it well?" you might then ask. They do it exceptionally well! Perhaps sometimes edging a little more towards death then doom but never losing track of the depressive atmosphere (the smart use of keys does a lot to help here).
For a first release this album is very impressive and everybody who thought the later 'Solinari' album was soft can pick this one up without any fear because it is HEAVY!
1. Relic Of A Darkened Past
2. In Ashen Tears
3. Travesty
4. Basking Under a Blacksun Dawning
5. Invalid Prodigy
Approx. 34 minutes
| Solinari (CD) | 1999 | Relapse |
'Solinari' is by no means easy to digest musical food, nor does it show any gothic influences. However compared to their previous effort 'Among Majestic Ruin' the album has become more accessible. When the first track 'The Serpentine Scrolls / Decent to Arawn' starts playing the sheer atmosphere rolls in. Images of mist filled plains and clandestine meetings of druids fill ones mind. Whispers and harsh grunts come forth as the music rolls on without retention. But always with enough space to let the keyboards in and create a mystical atmosphere. In good old doom tradition the music is nice and slow without ever becoming boring. This because of the great build-up of suspense in the music.
When the music of last track '...the Last Sunrise', a dark-wave like instrumental, slowly dies away it takes you a few minutes to snap back into reality, usually only to press the play button again.
1. The serpentine's scroll/descent to Arawn
2. Canticle
3. Solinari
4. Nightfall infernal
5. All the glory
6. All the loss
7. Blight
8. The last sunrise
Approx. 53 minutes
| a slow succumbing/ebb tide (Demo) | 2002 | None |
The first thing that struck me was that the emphasis on clean vocals has become greater than before (not just whispers and such, but pure clean sung vocals!). Morgion is clearly further moving away from their more death-metalish past. Not to fear however, as they by long have not done away with the bellowing grunts and thundering death/doom we all got to know and love on their previous albums.
The focus on creating a haunting atmosphere is obviously still here also, and seems to be getting more attention than before. Slow and sullen riffing are key factors we simply can not get around. Nor the majestic, mournful atmosphere the band creates. Sometimes the music even becomes rather intimate and fragile. Morgion clearly still dwell in the land of druids and mystics.
Based upon this Demo, I can assure any fan of the previous works of Morgion that the new album promises to be greatness itself! I am very sure you will not be disappointed at all. Morgion have not turned their back on their previous sound, but they have also chosen to not simply re-hash old material. This demo clearly represents a musically more matured band playing some of the best atmosphere drenched Death/Doom out there.
1. A slow Succumbing
2. Ebb tide
Approx. 23 minutes
| Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth (CD) | 2004 | Dark Symphonies |
'Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth' actually starts out pretty much as an expected follow-up to 'Solinari'. However, as the album progresses and the tracks pass by one by one, the album’s overall tone mellows even more. Acoustic guitars play a much more important role, as do the clean vocals. Some tracks still feature powerful grunts, but they are clearly outnumbered by clean, actually sung, vocals. I guess in part this has to do with previous vocalist Jeremy Peto having left the band and guitarist Dwayne Boardman now having taken on the vocal duties together with Gary Griffith. And the vocals are more then excellent to say the least but I must admit I do sometimes miss the death-grunt a little.
While the album has become more mellow, it is still clearly Morgion. There is no doubt about that at all. Every note and every string breathes the Morgion atmosphere as found on previous releases. And atmosphere has always been Morgion's ace up their collective sleeve. The multiple musical layers are something you will only be able to fully discover after multiple listening sessions. There are few bands around, be it within the doom-metal genre or otherwise, who are able to create such a mysterious, sullen atmosphere. In the past I have referred to them as the druids of Doom-metal and I think this title holds true more then ever now.
'Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth' represents Morgion truly coming of age and is their most mature album to date. The band has not forgotten its roots or abandoned its sound; rather, they have refined it. It for sure is one of the most excellent albums released in 2004. Soft and gentle, yet also still strong and powerful, but most of all an album of living and breathing doomed atmosphere.
However good I find this album, every silver lining has its dark-cloud. In Morgion's case it's that nagging feeling sometimes that I just want them to push it that little bit further, stop acting like grownups for only one or two minutes and just give the music that extra kick, that extra jolt of power. Each individual song is brilliant and will not cause this craving for a power-boost, but listening to the entire album sometimes does make you wish they would break out of their more mellow constrains. It's not a big problem, as the album is excellent and exceptionally enjoyable, but I do think Morgion are slowly starting to balance on that edge of over-production and over-fine-tuning. Luckily on 'Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth' they are still on the right side of that edge. The fire and power are still there. So for now perhaps it remains just an uneasy feeling I have and nothing more.
To conclude, 'Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth' offers some of the most exceptional Doom-metal recorded in recent years. I also firmly believe this album has the potential to become a classic within a few years time. Morgion still manage to offer something unique within the genre and proof without a doubt that when it comes to creating a mysterious, shrouded in mist atmosphere they are the masters. If you let it, 'Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth' will wrap around you and you'll emerge fully within it, gently floating upon the music. Morgion's best effort to date.
1. Cloaked by ages
2. A slow succumbing
3. Ebb Tide (parts I & II)
4. Trillium rune
5. The mourner’s oak
6. Cairn
7. She, the master covets
8. Crowned in earth
Approx. 61 minutes