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

След прекрасния де¬бют, който извадиха The Morningside, с интерес очак- вах продълже- нието и дали московчаните няма да се окажат в капана на трудния втори албум. Слушайки Moving Crosscurrent of Time, нямаше как да прикрия голямото си задоволство от факта, че The Morningside не са се забатачили в повтарянс на дебюта, а са поработили здраво. Крайният резултат отново е прекрасен мелоди¬чен дуум/дет във вените на ранните Katatonia и Agalloch, напомнящ на места на My Dying Bride и Paradise Lost, но въобще не си и помисляйте за някакво сляпо копиране на посо- чените банд и. В парчетата на русна- ците се долавя собствен почерк, пре¬красна атмосфера, а свежият повей в музиката може да се отдаде и на вплетените пост рок нотки, най-отчетливи в аутрото. Вярвам, че няма да има фен на дуум/дет метьла, който да остане безразличен както към новия албум на руснаците, така и към самата група и сьм сигурен, че феновете й само ще се увеличават и то напълно заслужено. За фенове на ранни Agalloch, Katatonia, My Dying Bride и Par adise Lost

Author: Svarog

Dopo Raventale e Kauan, eccomi qui a parlare di un altro ritorno targato Bad Mood Man Records: si tratta dei The Morningside, formazione russa che avevo giа recensito all’epoca del loro “The Wind, The Trees And The Shadow Of The Past”. Giа allora ero rimasto particolarmente colpito dalla bontа della loro opera, che prendeva ampi spunti dai Katatonia di “Brave Murder Day”, li univa agli ottimi Agalloch e ci regalava un doom metal dalle tinte oscure e malinconiche in tre composizioni maestose (piщ una intro e una outro) intitolate appunto “The Wind”, “The Trees” e “The Shadow Of The Past”.
Bene, con questo nuovo “Moving Crosscurrent Of Time”, la band non и che faccia grandi innovazioni al proprio sound e a conti fatti nemmeno alla struttura dell’opera: i numi tutelari sono ancora Katatonia e Agalloch e nell’album troviamo ancora intro ed outro ad aprire e chiudere il CD, sebbene adesso le canzoni vere e proprie siano cinque. Anche la copertina gioca ancora su immagini naturaliste, sebbene piщ oscure e spoglie rispetto all’album precedente. A voler essere precisi in realtа ci sono due copertine di questo disco: la prima, quella che possiedo io, и una pianura dove in primo piano si vede un ramo secco abbandonato sulle rive di un laghetto, con il marrone a fare da colore dominante; l’altra invece mostra la silhouette di un albero circonfuso di luce, con toni molto piщ caldi.
Passiamo oltre, comunque, e arriviamo alla musica vera e propria che, come dicevo, non si discosta molto da quanto potete leggere anche nella precedente recensione. Diciamo che “Moving Crosscurrent Of Time” и un po’ il classico album di conferma. Non aggiunge e non toglie niente al passato, ma dato che la qualitа del lavoro и molto elevata, serve a stabilizzare lo status del gruppo e a confermare che le buonissime impressioni del primo lavoro non erano affatto un fuoco di paglia, ma l’inizio di una carriera degna di nota. Non и cosм strano, in effetti, tant’и che non a caso esiste questo luogo comune, piщ o meno fondato, del terzo album come quello della svolta: in effetti anche per i The Morningside il discorso potrebbe essere simile e in effetti un terzo lavoro ancora legato a degli stilemi giа sentiti potrebbe non essere una mossa saggia.
Comunque, bando alle ciance e pensiamo al presente. Come giа vi anticipavo si parte con una intro di circa quattro minuti che, tra il rumore del vento e il verso di un rapace, lascia spazio ad una composizione ambient. Nulla di fondamentale, comunque, dato che la vera anima del gruppo si fa sentire su “Fourteen”, un brano piuttosto corto per gli standard del gruppo (soli sei minuti) dove perт abbiamo tutte le caratteristiche del loro sound: tempi rallentati, chitarre lamentose e malinconiche che perт sanno disegnare ottime melodie e una voce in screaming a guidare il tutto. “Autumn People”, invece, и uno dei punti piщ alti con i suoi dieci minuti di durata e le sue atmosfere cangianti, capaci di ferire come di cullare, soprattutto nella seconda parte del brano. Si continua cosм con “Insomnia” e la title track, entrambe di buona fattura ma che non aggiungono molto a quanto detto finora se non per un ottimo assolo di chitarra in quest’ultima, mentre con “The Outcome (Admit One)”, la band firma un brano dinamico e cangiante, dove torna a farsi sentire il ricordo dei My Dying Bride in alcune partiture di chitarra. Molto diversa, invece, “Outro”, giocata interamente su chitarre pulite e arpeggiate: qui si fanno sentire molto di piщ i Katatonia di “Tonight’s Decision” o “Last Fair Deal Gone Done”, sia per la musica, sia per la parte vocale anch’essa pulita e molto simile a quella di Jonas Renkse. Che sia un indizio sul futuro dei The Morningside? Chi lo sa, per ora abbiamo ancora un buonissimo lavoro e quindi va bene cosм. Dico la veritа, ho apprezzato leggermente di piщ il primo album e quindi ero tentato di dare mezzo voto in meno, ma voglio premiare questi ragazzi perchи hanno saputo dare delle conferme non da poco. Ora aspettiamo la prova definitiva del terzo album.

Author: Danny Boodman

Cá estou ouvindo o segundo album desta banda da gélida Rússia e o estilo praticado pelo quarteto russo é um excelente Deathl/Doom Metal com um direcionamento melódico; logo na primeira música se “auto-denuncia” com sua influência primordial do Paradise Lost. Notadamente a fase entre “Shades of God” e “Draconian Times”, ou seja, o The Morningside dosou com bastante maestria a face mais cadenciada e melódica com rompantes mais extremos e brutais de sua musicalidade.

Fiz esta comparação e citação do Paradise Lost para você leitor tecer em sua mente uma idéia aproximada de sua sonoridade, sem com isto afirmar que os russos são uma cópia ou discípulos ortodoxos do PL, que fique bastante claro. Pois têm personalidade e isto é um fato inquestionável, basta ouvir e atestar. Confesso a vocês que não esperava tanto e quebrei a cara e queimei a língua; grata surpresa e recomendo a vocês conhecê-la.

It’s always a pleasure to listen to a Solitude Prod./Bad Mood Man release, you’re sure you get a remarkable material and The Morningside proves once again this statement. The band was formed in 2006 as a four-piece and this is their second album, both of them out on Solitude Prod. Their musical path can be labeled as Melodic Doom Death, the traditional way, a perfect gift for all diehard Doom Death fans out there. We’re treated with 7 tracks lasting for about 52 minutes of clever, entertaining and complex Doom Death. I guess I’m so excited about this release because it’s excellent guitar work: Heavy Doom guitar riffs supporting some melodic and melancholic guitar leads that introduce you to a meditative, calm atmosphere. But still, the hoarse vocals are the aggressive point here, just to make it more complex, and the stong bass and drum parts are a good addition. Despite their similarities with Katatonia, The Morningside are doing it with great passion and they succeed what’s the most important, to transmit their ideas and feelings to the listener. Good effort, really looking forward to hear some new stuff from this Russian band. thumbs up, go for it.

Author: Adrian

I russi The Morningside si presentano al mio cospetto con un bel booklet, curato e ricco, su cui ci ha messo lo zampino Bad Mood Man Music, label che ha decisamente trovato nella musica di questi ragazzi qualcosa di speciale che salta all’occhio sin dal primo ascolto, ovvero la capacità dei Nostri di mescolare piuttosto bene varie influenze che spaziano dal black al death e al doom, il tutto costantemente accompagnato da una dose massiccia di melodia epica, ma allo stesso tempo, malinconica, che non solo rende questo disco ascoltabile da una fascia di ascoltatori un pò più larga, ma riesce anche a donare varietà ed emozioni. Melodia sempre accompagnata da un riffing ispirato e cadenzoso, a cui si abbina uno screaming niente male, di pura matrice black metal. E sono proprio le atmosfere che questo connubio interessante riesce a ricreare che danno quel tocco di classe capace di contraddistinguere questo album, con una chitarra solista sopra le righe, a volte adirittura nel ruolo acustico.
Per citare due canzoni, consiglio l’ascolto di The Autumn People e di Insomnia, due tracce che faranno fatica ad essere dimenticate.
Insomma, se siete stanchi del solito doom, allora è arrivato il momento di buttare l’occhio su questa nuova promessa, i The Morningside, una band che ha ottime capacità compositive e riesce a lasciare il segno con un sound davvero fresco. Tra Katatonia, Anathema e primi Moonspell.

Author: Hellrob

ust by the cover of this album I expected something more along the lines of funeral doom but I have to say covers can be deceiving at times because what i got was a more melodic doom/death metal album. This album takes the ominous tones of doom metal, the harsh vocals of death metal, and adds melodic rhythms to make a very solid sound. The songs are paced quite well and switches from hard driving mid-paced rhythms to a more melodic slower pace. Their style is in ways kinda like that of Katatonia with more harsh style of vocals. I did find this album to be quite enjoyable and very well put together even though time to time I found some of the songs where too drawn out. Overall this is a very well done album that I think fans of the darker side of metal will truly enjoy.

Author: Daniel Damnation