Morgion – Among Majestic Ruin – Review

Morgion

Among Majestic Ruin (Relapse)
by Scott Hefflon

Plodding heavily through atmospheric doom, Morgion offers five new tracks from the same studio session that produced “Innocence and Wrath” and “The Usurper” for the In Memory of Celtic Frost tribute album. Layering subdued keyboards, swelling guitar rhythms, and a guitar lead that sings as sweetly as a playing child upon the crisp drum attack and rumbling bass, each song wanders moodily as vocalist Jeremy Peto roars his tale. Not reaching the broad range of Tiamat, but definitely reaching beyond the horizons of power-for-power-sake metal, each song is given room to breathe and expand. The guitar melodies and swooping keyboard/guitar rhythms are held, tragically, by a single pitch vocalist (except for a few nice screamcore moments), a dry snare drum sound (like a high school marching band on a windy day), and the confusing ability to fall out of time with each other. For a band with such a knack for writing thoughtful melodies in intricate layers (without being overkill), I’m surprised they left the warts in. But majestic they certainly are.