Hace poco os presentábamos al grupo ruso de Doom Metal The Morningside con su disco debut ‘The Wind, the Trees and the Shadows of the Past’, editado en 2007. Ahora os traemos su segundo trabajo (con algo de retraso también, ya que se editó en 2009) titulado ‘Moving Crosscurrent of Time’.

Su evolución respecto al anterior ha sido mínima. La estructura del disco es la misma: una introducción instrumental, seguida de una descarga de desolación y dolor, y un cierre a cargo de una outro también instrumental.

La época inicial de Katatonia sigue estando vigente en su trabajo y canciones como “Autumn People” suenan completamente al ‘Brave Murder Day’ de los suecos. Como se comentó en la reseña del debut, impacta bastante el contraste entre la parte instrumental, influenciada por los antes citados Katatonia y algo de Agalloch, con las voces guturales propias del Black Metal, como se puede escuchar en “Insomnia” y “Fourteen”.

El disco es bastante similar entre sí y no ofrece nada nuevo. Los pocos cambios rítmicos apenas destacan y hacen el disco bastante monótono, sonando completamente a los grupos citados anteriormente. Lo único a destacar es la penúltima canción, llamada “The Outcome (Admit One)” que se mueve por unos terrenos mucho más amenos al oído, con ese Doom con tintes góticos que recuerdan a los Rapture finlandeses, y un final que no tiene nada que ver con lo que han ofrecido hasta ahora a cargo de unas melodías progresivas hechas con teclados en formato midi.

Este “Moving Crosscurrent of Time” no ofrece nada que no hayamos escuchado y reescuchado a estas alturas, con unas clarísimas influencias a los inicios de Katatonia y a Agalloch y que gustará a los seguidores del género. Veremos si su nuevo disco, editado en 2011 (tranquilos, ¡en breve será reseñado! ) sigue el mismo patrón que han utilizado hasta ahora o se centrarán en esas nuevas influencias que nos han mostrado al final del disco. En breve saldremos de dudas.

Author: Xènia Von Ereticy

The debut album from The Morningside “The Wind, the Trees and the Shadows of the Past” was something special, and actually opened up my eyes toward the Russian Doom Metal scene. That was more than three years ago. Today the newest release “Moving Crosscurrent of Time” is on my table and unfortunately it does not repeat the success of the first album. In general, the band became more mature, but it definitely also lost something. Maybe it’s the naivety or maybe it’s the same maturity, which kills the youthful enthusiasm.
“Moving Crosscurrent of Time” offers more than fifty minutes of total melancholy, autumnal warm and emotions. The album is too positive for my taste; it lacks more aggressiveness, negativity, which could give some darker shadows to the music. Of course, the album still has the un-light aura, but for me it carries too much warmness inside. Again I want to mention the slowness and total melancholy. For my taste, Death/Doom must have at least several fast interludes that flow with pain or hatred. This time The Morningside decided to make the listeners relax. Sure, this is still good album for the nostalgic evenings on the park paths, but the melodies of the music sound too boring. It seems that the album is done just on one note, without any activeness. Probably just the title song, “Moving Crosscurrent of Time” makes the situation better and gives the album some dynamic. The vocals are also too boring and the only thing it leads to is sleep.
Be sure to check this album out in the appropriate mood. Otherwise, it can become a big disappointment. Totally melancholic and melodic Death/Doom is not the best idea for me today, but I believe there would be other days when such monotony can even make my days better.

Author: Odium

When I first heard their debut “The Wind, The Trees And The Shadows Of The
Past,” I thought this Russian doom styled band was interesting, but nothing
prepared me for just how much this CD would totally annihilate their previous
effort! First off, right from the get go you’ll notice that much of the guitar
work is oh-so catchy and utilizing some of the highest ended guitar notes that
soar with emotion. Right off the bat I’ll say that the opening “intro” (Yea,
it’s called an intro; their first CD had one too, but the “Outro” is worth
mentioning. We’ll do that later) had to be skipped. It starts out cool enough,
with harsh bird and rough wind sounds, and a rather ambient landscape of
synths, but the synths soon get rather annoying before the track ends. Not a
huge deal, for once ‘Fourteen’ kicks in as one of the best tracks on the album,
you’ll be thrilled at the ride. Oftentimes the guitar work keeps you wondering
if this is REALLY a doom metal oriented band, as the slower passages oftentimes
utilize a somewhat thrash set of guitar riffs (or choppy style riffs, whatever)
to accentuate the higher ended leads. And EVERY song here is chock full of
great solo instrumentation. You’ll often hear the vocals disappear for about
two thirds to half of the song, only to close it out by the track’s end. And
the brilliant guitar work is all over the place. ‘Autumn People’ carries things
on, with nice opening lead riffs. ‘Insomnia’ starts the track off with sick
blackened vocals, and they’re quite intense. These lead guitar riffs are
starting to sound familiar; maybe it’s because they’re played around the same
fret pattern or because they’re so high up. This track stops midway to bring
out a semi acoustic set of instrumentation. There’s some interesting double
bass drumming to end the track, once again making you wonder if this really is
doom metal! The title trackhas a few odd leads around the 3:15 mark, and again
near the end of the song, but I think it’s just two notes that struck me as
odd. There’s a really interesting lead solo here that blazes away for a few,
though each note is crafted in a rising crescendo that really carries the
emotion of the song to new heights. The last actual “song” is ‘The Outcome,’
and this is one of the most interesting and diverse cuts, mainly because around
the 4 minute mark there’s some really vicious and dark thrash riffing going on!
You totally don’t expect to hear THAT by this point. And the ending of the
track SHOULD be around the 7:15 mark, except there’s this amazingly magical set
of synth ambience going on along with the repeating of the lead guitar parts,
and I though, what a fabulous way to end the CD! It’s trippy, almost
psychedelic and totally amazing. However, the last track is the “outro,” and it
resembles more a REAL song, since it has actual SUNG vocals (yes, and this is
the ONLY place on the CD you’ll find clean sung vocals) and guitar, drums, etc.
It starts out with acoustical guitar work that you SWEAR you’ve heard before (I
think it’s an acoustical version of riffs from a previous song). True to form,
even though it’s a 7 minute track, the vocals don’t appear until about 2:35.
This CD quite simply blew me away, with me getting hooked on ‘Fourteen’ and the
other tracks soon getting repeat nods. VERY little complaining to do here
folks, and I must say that you’ll be questioning whether this disc is a TRUE
representation of a great mixture of black and doom metal. One of the best doom
styled bands to come from Russia, I daresay we are going to be blown away even
more at their next offering…

Rusia dejó hace tiempo de ser una sorpresa para quienes escuchamos bandas de Metal Extremo (más que nada las relacionadas con el Doom Metal) y a las claras esto que queda en consideración de todos nosotros con la llegada del segundo trabajo de los rusos THE MORNINGSIDE.
“Moving Crosscurrent Of Time” es un álbum que potencia sus cualidades melódicas en lo entramado del Dark Metal (casi olvidado en estos tiempos), construyendo caminos sinuosos entre lo que han hecho los ingleses de Paradise Lost en los 90´s y las bandas fichadas por Solitude Productions actualmente (el sello ruso en cuestión).
La tendencia hacia lo melódico se hace presente a cada paso, sobre todo en las canciones “Autumn People”, la brillante “Insomnio” y la que despide el material con algo más de potencia y pesadez antes de la “Outro” en el final (“The Outcome –Admit One”).
El cuarteto ruso extiende sus más sentidos sentimientos en casi una hora de duración, donde la melancolía se apodera de las canciones, casi penetrándolas, metiéndose en ellas como un espíritu malicioso en busca de saciar su lánguida.
“Moving Crosscurrent Of Time” es un disco oscuro, poco pretencioso, en cierto modo refinado, pero con correctas canciones y un sentido criterio a la hora de la composición.

Author: Gustavo Piccini

Seit 2006 aktiv, haben THE MORNINGSIDE bereits
ein Album veröffentlicht und gingen dann wieder auf
Label-Suche. Bei BadMoodMan erscheint nun „Moving
Crosscurrent Of Time“, das zweite Full-Length der vier
Moskauer. Interessant ist das Album nicht aufgrund seiner
Stilmittel, die man anderswo ausgefeilter findet, besonders
die ziemlich laut abgemischten, heiser gekrächzten bis
geknurrten Vocals nerven auf Dauer und machen die
melancholische Grundstimmung der omnipräsenten
Lead-Gitarre kaputt, die sich im zweiten Stück ‚14’ oder
in ‚Insomnia’ an vierter Stelle in Höhen schwingt, die
man sonst nur aus dem Power Metal kennt. „Moving
Crosscurrent Of Time“ bezieht seine Melancholie aus dem
Herbst, doch nicht, weil der Herbst Herbst ist, sondern weil
das Bewusstsein einer Existenz in Zyklen einfach depressiv
machen muss. Da werden neblige Novembertage und
das baldige Ende des Lebens in Beziehung gesetzt mit
Kindheitserinnerungen, der Honig auf dem Roggenbrot und
der Osterkuchen besungen. THE MORNINGSIDE erkennen:
Das Leben ist eine Bürde, und „Moving Crosscurrent Of
Time“ ist das Verlangen danach, die Zyklizität des Lebens
außer Kraft zu setzen – wie auch immer. Das Cover des
limitierten Digipacks zeigt die tief stehende Herbstsonne,
im Vordergrund einen bereits kahlen Baum und Wind,
dessen Staubpartikel gegen die Sonne sichtbar werden. Es
geht zu Ende. Bleibt die Frage: Was hören wir im nächsten
Frühjahr?

Author: JIP

Una lunga spettrale intro apre il secondo lavoro dei moscoviti The Morningside, autori un paio d’anni fa di un interessantissimo lavoro di death doom atmosferico, “The Wind, the Trees and the Shadows of the Past”. Proprio partendo da tali sonorità decadenti, ma ancor di più dall’influsso proveniente dal mitico debut “Dance of December Souls” dei Katatonia, possiamo dedurre su quali coordinate si muove il quartetto russo. L’ensemble est europeo non tradisce assolutamente le mie aspettative, peraltro proponendo al pubblico un lussuoso digipack con un elegante booklet interno. A parte l’estetica, visto che comunque anche l’occhio vuole la sua parte, la musica poi è pura delizia per le mie orecchie e per chiunque abbia amato gli esordi dei già citati Katatonia o dei Paradise Lost. Proprio sulla base di quelle sonorità di primi anni ’90, cosi malinconiche, depressive e autolesioniste, la band sfoggia 5 pezzi (più intro e outro) di raffinata bellezza. Ad aprire ci pensa “Fourteen” e già sono le chitarre ritmiche a mettersi in mostra, spennellando qua e là tinte autunnali di un dolce tramonto di metà novembre. È immediatamente chiaro che il disco ha suggestive emozioni da trasmettere, visto il ruolo cardine che giocano i fantasiosi riffs del duo Sergey-Igor, nell’economia generale del disco: non si tratta infatti di selvagge cavalcate di furente death, bensì vellutati tocchi di pura semplice poesia, con intermezzi acustici e parti atmosferiche, capaci di colmare il dolore dei nostri cuori feriti. La terza “Autumn People” si apre come un qualsiasi pezzo estrapolato da “Shades of God” dei maestri Paradise Lost e come i maestri, anche i The Morningside dipingono desertiche lande ove non v’è traccia d’anima viva. Magnifiche l’emozioni che si sprigionano dalle note di questo disco, complici anche alcune parti ispirate agli statunitensi Agalloch, per quel loro uso di parti acustiche che donano un tocco di magia all’intero lavoro; cosi come eccellenti sono i riffs di chiara scuola “Brave Murder Day”, certamente in grado di trascinare “Moving Crosscurrent of Time” verso un successo più che meritato. Vorrei sottolineare infine che, nonostante questa mia continua citazione di band a cui i nostri si ispirano, la musica dei Morningside non è una pura e mera rilettura dei classici ma un’intensa personalizzazione di quelli che sono i dettami di un genere che, se si è in grado di suonare, può suscitare forti emozioni e i Morningside si confermano talentuosi nelle idee e abili nel’esecuzione; bravi!

Author: Francesco Scarci

Moving Crosscurrent of Time is like a mix of third-rate Agalloch and Dark Tranquillity, played well and with no real production flaws to speak of. However, the entire album sounds tepid and uninspired, with ho-hum songs that only rarely, if ever, have fleeting flashes of tastiness. It’s not offensive, but one listen is all you might ever give it.

Author: Roberto Martinelli

Если вам понравился дебютный альбом этой московской группы, то их новый шедевр вам понравится ещё больше. И хотя музыканты продолжают гнуть линию своего предшественника, однозначно можно сказать, что “Moving Crosscurrent of Time” получился на голову выше, чем “The Wind, the Trees and the Shadows of the Past”. Материал стал более сложным для восприятия, более тяжёлым, более атмосферным… Если верить пресс-релизу, то источником вдохновения для музыкантов при написании основной части композиций, послужило известное произведение Рэя Брэдбери “Something Wicked This Way Comes”. Хм, кто знает, возможно музыка THE MORNINGSIDE вполне подошла бы в качестве звукового сопровождения к данному повествованию. Одно можно сказать, данный альбом надо слушать в осенний период, когда за окном идёт проливной дождь, и вы сидите в лесной хижине в гордом одиночестве. В другое время этот диск просто не воспринимается. CD “Moving Crosscurrent of Time” слушается на одном дыхании, но больше всего хотелось бы отметить титульную композицию, которая сразу тянет на звание мега-хит. Думаю, эту песню больше всего будут фэны требовать исполнить на бис на концертах группы, так же как фэны требуют на выступлениях группы KATATONIA исполнить их легендарный хит “Murder”. Кстати, всем поклонникам старого творчества KATATONIA, теперь с полной уверенностью можно сказать, что в России появилась достойная замена упомянутой шведской команды, и поверьте это не просто громкие слова. Думаю, находись группа THE MORNINGSIDE на каком-нибудь Peaceville Records, они бы вполне могли бы рассчитывать на международный успех. Однозначно один из лучших metal релизов, которые когда-либо выходили на постсоветском пространстве. Информация для коллекционеров: кроме обычной версии, также доступно лимитированное издание в формате шикарного digibook (всего 500 копий), а сам диск издан с золотым напылением с использованием технологии pit art. Посему советую поторопиться с приобретением.

Author: Costas

When the Morningside’s debut “The Wind, The Trees and the Shadows of the Past” was released in 2007, it show a band still in its embryonic phase. The album seemed inconsistent and the band didn’t seem to have a clear vision over their sound but they did have some very impressive musicianship, it was the patchy songwriting that was their weakness at that point in time. This is just my opinion of course, the album was critically acclaimed so i know i am in the minority on that issue. Two years later and some changes have been made and its all good news, the band sounds more focused, the songs are stronger and the production has had a much needed boost. The band still sounds like Agalloch or Katatonia so this is definitely a worthy investment if you like those bands. The Morningside play a atmospheric form of doom/death metal, with blackened vocals, along with the occasional whisper. Sergey Chelyadinov (guitar) and Ilya Egorychev (bass) seem to be the driving force behind most of the music on this album while the drums (Boris Sergeev) are solid but not remarkable. The vocals of Igor Nikitin still remains a weak point but i feel it is essentially not a real important part of the Morningside’s sound. The album begins a intro before moving into “14’ and its a particularly brilliant song, showing some interesting guitar work. The riffs are dymanic in range and the other instruments pitch in to make a far more expansive sound. I feel myself being more pleased with the clearer more vibrant sound of this album compared with the limited style of the debut, which although good, isn’t as accessible as this album. However, I suspect a number of death/doom fans won’t appreciate the slightly thin production as it doesn’t showcase the dark themes they write about. After “14″ another highlight comes along with “The Autumn People”, the contrasting textures shows how much they are influenced by the aforementioned bands as they move between those two styles within the same song but managed to do it fluidly. Elsewhere the title track “Moving Crosscurrent of Time” starts off strong but it lost my attention after the 6 minute mark, at nearly 9 minutes it seems a little too long and underdone. The other tracks on the album are of similar standard, good but nothing compared with the first half of the CD. It is interesting how a simple change in production style that allows the bass and percussion to have a more key role in the music can be such a improvement for a band. Here the band shows a big step forward which must be great for the Russian doom scene which has been on shaky ground since the mid 90′s. Despite the fact that the band is obviously influenced by both early era Agalloch and early Katatonia, the musicianship is far superior than both those bands. The sad part is they will at the end of the day still be regarded as a copy-cat outfit but don’t let that influence your decision on checking this out. This is good atmospheric death/doom with great musicianship with only the vocals having a question mark next to it, also even though the production standard has lifted since the first album it is still no where near heavy enough to drive these really dark tunes home. The band can only get even better from here but grabbing a copy of this is a great way to introduce yourself to this band from Russia.

Although the cover art seems strangly reminiscent of a Nevermore album, The Morningside actually deals in airy, melodic death/doom strongly influenced by Agalloch and Katatonia, as well as Finland’s lucrative death/doom scene. While listeners experienced with these genres may not hear anything terribly innovative in Moving Crosscurrent Of Time, that doesn’t change the fact that this Russian outfit is paying their homage to the greats with extremely worthwhile results.

The Morningside’s focus lies on conveying a depressing, naturalistic atmosphere through a patient, steady sense of build-up and release in songwriting. Much like the aforementioned Agalloch, The Morningside delivers their hooks in the form of sorrowful, catchy lead guitar refrains backed by misty, doomy soundscapes. “Fourteen” makes a huge opening impression following an atmospheric intro with a gorgeous array of depressive leads, while “Autumn People” solidifies the backing riffs into more of a steady march before delivering the album’s first rousing chorus (spearheaded by, surprise, more terrific lead guitar). The epic title track follows suit with an impressive trade-off of acoustic and electric passages before delivering a superbly catchy riff at the halfway point. While guitar is obviously the primary focus of The Morningside’s compositions, the band also incorporates some deft bass guitar flourishes which are given plenty of room to shine thanks to the album’s top-notch mixing job, which renders each instrument with a smooth, organic tone that perfectly suits the nature of the music at hand. There’s even a beautiful wash of ambient keyboard sounds at the end of “The Outcome (Admit One)” that somehow feels right at home with the rest of the record’s guitar-centric delivery.

While The Morningside’s instrumental palette is terrific, the vocals don’t make the transition quite as well. There’s nothing inherently bad about Igor Nikitin’s raspy growls, but they depict some of the lyrics a bit too aggressively considering their rather mopey tone, and it distracts from the overall atmosphere at times. The clean singing featured on the untitled outro track is likewise a bit shaky, but I have a feeling most listeners will forgive the flaws in the vocals considering the rewarding nature of the songs as a whole.

Some may feel that The Morningside’s sound is too reminiscent of other bands, or that the lengthy intro and outro are excessive, but fans of deathy doom metal with a melodic bent should find a great deal to be excited about in the depressive folds of Moving Crosscurrent Of Time. This outfit’s ear for songwriting and affinity for extremely memorable lead guitar compositions should stand out to anyone regardless of the apparent nature of the influences, and if the members of The Morningside can find a way to add a bit more of their own personal flair to this style they perform so well, they could find themselves standing proudly alongside the very bands they so obviously admire. As it stands, Moving Crosscurrent Of Time is a quality piece of death/doom in its own right and goes highly recommended to fans of the genre.

Author: Chris McDonald