The Morningside – Teeth of the Divine

Morningside, The – Moving Crosscurrent of Time

Jordan Itkowitz — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:32:43 +0000

The Morningside’s debut, The Wind, The Trees and The Shadows of the Past, was one of the very first reviews I wrote for this site, and so it’s a pleasure, several years later, to revisit these Russian doom-deathsters and see how they’ve progressed. Just as before, there’s a heavy Agalloch and Katatonia influence throughout, and while there’s not a huge departure from the debut, everything here is delivered with the same sense of steady, measured balance. What’s different is the tone – harder-hitting, slightly more rougher-hewn – particularly in the grittier guitars and plodding bassline. The growls too – still the clipped, monochrome Agalloch-like delivery, but sharper, with more bite and intensity.

Much like before, The Morningside marries floating, regal melody lines over the rumbly, measured pace of the rhythm guitar, bass and drums; it’s a cleaner, more pronounced dichotomy than you usually hear from denser strains of doom-death. I love this particular sound – each song just carries you away, like an astral projection soaring over dark, choppy water. Some tracks, like “The Autumn People,” bring in a crunchier, bluesier doom approach, while others, like “Insomnia,” bring back the elegiac, acoustic passages from the quieter moments of TWtTatSotP – Insomnium and classic Opeth fans take note. There’s even a bit of Rapture in here as well, with the rockin’ midsection of the title track and the entirety of “The Outcome.” I feel like maybe this latter track should have appeared earlier, to break up the first three tracks (since it’s a stylistic departure). That would have made the album feel more balanced overall, but this is a very minor gripe.

If there was one element of the debut I thought needed work, it was the clean vocals, which only return here on the album closer (simply titled “Outro”). The delivery is definitely improved, although still a bit fragile and tremulous at times. However, given that the song sounds like it came directly off The Cure’s Wish or Disintegration, this actually works really well. It’s even better in the Russian version of “Outro,” so if you load both language versions onto your iPod, I suggest putting that version first.

Even with the slightly grittier delivery, Moving Crosscurrent of Time is still not a particularly aggressive album, and that’s just fine with me. This is a relaxing and rewarding example of the genre, particularly for those of you who prize melody and contemplation over crushing darkness and despair. As before, The Morningside is highly recommended to fans of Agalloch, mid-era Katatonia and Finnish death-doom.

Morningside, The – The Wind, The Trees and The Shadow of the Past

Jordan Itkowitz — Sat, 03 May 2008 21:16:14 +0000

The Morningside hail from Russia and play a relaxed, melancholic brand of melodic death/doom. Brave Murder Day-era Katatonia and Morningrise-era Opeth immediately come to mind – not surprising, considering these bands are listed as influences. Aside from albums like Rapture’s Futile and some aspects of earlier Agalloch, this particular sound seems to be rare, so discovering this album was a real pleasure.

Aside from an atmospheric intro and outro to set the mood, The Wind, The Trees, The Shadow of the Past consists of three longish songs, each one clocking in at or above the ten-minute mark. And, in another nod to Brave Murder Day, you can pretty much guess what the song titles are – no need for track listing here.

“The Wind” kicks off with a pleasantly crunchy groove, and the Katatonia influence is in full force here. Some might tag it as derivative, but to me, this is all love and homage, and quite welcome. Harsh, ragged vocals join the flow for awhile, then giving way to a clean-picked acoustic guitar line as the sole voice. When a beautiful solo serpentines in, backed by a prominent bass – echoes of the mix on Morningrise – you can’t help but be carried away by the layers at work here. Gorgeous stuff.

The two other tracks take on an even more solemn, doomy mood – slower paced, and maybe not as rapturous, but not without their own beautiful, instrospective moments. It’s on these tracks that another prominent influence begins to surface – The Cure, specifically during their Disintegration/Wish era. This is most noticeable in the shimmering, plaintive lead guitar work, but also in the more pensive mood that settles in. Just relax and get carried away.

Clean vocals come in during “The Shadows of the Past,” and this is the one area the album stumbles out of its reverie. While not bad by any means, the vocals are a bit tremulous and awkward, largely due to the heavily accented delivery. Hearing them in Russian would have been more evocative and exotic (except of course, if you’re Russian).

There’s nothing terribly threatening or intense about The Morningside, but that’s not the point – in fact, if you removed the harsh vocals altogether, these songs would be palatable to a pretty wide range of listeners. Of course, those of us that love and are accustomed to this type of vocals find nothing distressing about them in the first place.

The Morningside are offering the entire album to download for free at their site – well worth grabbing if any of the above bands appeal to you. This is satisfying enough to order a copy of the album, though, and is one of the nicer gems I’ve stumbled across this year.