The Morningside - TreeLogia (The Album As It Is Not) (CD) Digipak

Review
Hymnes Funeraires
7.5/10
09.02.2012

Many may have already heard of them since their first disc, “The Wind, the Trees and the Shadows of the Past” but for those who are not familiar, The Morningside is a melodic doom band from Russia with two full length albums out so far and this EP – “Treelogia”.
Their playing style is influenced and sounds very familiar to Agalloch, maybe because of the lyrical theme based on “nature” and also on the vocals part. The similarities with other bands don’t end here, on the doom metal part, “Brave Murder Days” by Katatonia seem to be their main focus.
Some words about the EP; as a structure, TreeLogia is more of a single track with a duration of 47 minutes, but divided into three parts: The Trees – Part One, The Trees – Part Two, The Threes – Part Three TreeLogia. These “parts” are very well thought out,there are many passages that merge easily with each other giving the EP that sense of continuity from the start until the end.

As a concept, TreeLogia (The Album As It Is Not) has a little secret, it is not entirely new. The EP was formed ​​developing the idea behind the track called “The Trees”, from their first album “The Wind, The Trees And The Shadows Of The Past “.

The EP has many passages that abound in sorrowful melodic guitars, sometimes accompanied by gentle keyboard support. There are also parts of clean guitars that create a melancholic, thoughtful moment. The harsh voice used throughout the album, as I said at the beginning, are very similar to the ones in Agalloch.

As in previous albums, the “nature” plays an important role. Elements like the sound of rain or wind are very often used in the songs, they create an ethereal atmosphere, the image of a empty, cold and forgotten landscape … a place of meditation.

TreeLogia (As It Is Not The Album) is an EP that doesn’t require your maximum attention, there is no need to examine each track piece by piece, it is an album easy to listen to. Its main strong point is the atmosphere that it creates, that certain state of tranquility in which we can escape, it draws you in it.

So, if you like melancholic and melodic moments, sorrowful guitars, bands like Agalloch, you’re inspired by nature and you need an easy listen, then there is no reason why you wouldn’t like this one.

Author: Zamo

Review
Aristocrazia
19.12.2011

A due anni di distanza dal secondo album "Moving Crosscurrent Of Time" tornano a farsi sentire i The Morningside.
La band moscovita, così piacevole in un recente passato influenzato da grandi nomi quali Cathedral, Katatonia, Agalloch e reminescenze Opeth (non quelli odierni), è a un ep "TreeLogia" che si affida per attirare a sè ancora una volta l'attenzione degli ascoltatori che concedono il proprio tempo a un sound maggiormente atmosferico, ricercato e progressivo.
Le armi in possesso del quartetto russo sono ormai conosciute, abbiamo a che fare con dei buoni compositori capaci di inclinare il loro modo di suonare doom/death in maniera da donargli raffinatezza e i suoni sono ancora una volta tendenti in alcuni fraseggi al progressivo e alla sperimentazione ambientale.
"TreeLogia" è assemblato con sapienza, il riffing di Sergey Chelyadinov tesse trame melodicamente pregne di intensità e delicatezza, è elegante l'approccio vocale di Igor Nikitin, il growl/scream non calca la mano scegliendo volutamente di poggiarsi accattivante e "morbido" sulle basi alimentate dalle linee di basso di Ilya Egorichev e dalle dinamiche di un drumming elaborato sì, ma mai troppo complesso curato da Boris Sergeev.
Non vi sono novità sostanziali, i The Morningside confermano in blocco le qualità e le pecche (poche) che li hanno sinora contraddistinti, il lavoro si fa apprezzare al meglio quando lo si affronta in soluzione unica ma al tempo stesso è così che rivela le proprie debolezze tendendo a crogiolarsi sin troppo in ripetizioni che si sarebbero potute evitare o quantomeno ridurre, le quali insieme alla carenza di personalità, che purtroppo li continua a far inserire in quella categoria di band che potenzialmente capaci di un salto evolutivo e qualitativo decisivo ma che sembrano aver paura di rischiare, minano seppur lievemente la piena riuscita di "TreeLogia".
Il tempo scorre, gli anni passano e i The Morningside allungano la loro discografia con "TreeLogia" che non sarà rivoluzionario, non si discosta da quanto ci hanno proposto in passato e forse proprio per questo troverà dei graditi riscontri.
È anche giusto che sia così dato che i valori di "base" ci sono tutti e vengono spesso superati, il problema reale è: quanto vorranno ancora girarci intorno? E' arrivato il momento di svoltare e dare voce alla propria di anima.

Author: Mourning

Review
Legacy Magazine #75
7/10

Im epischen, melodramatischen Metal sind Konzept-Platten keine Seltenheit. Voraussetzung muss es jedoch sein, dass die jeweilige Band in ihrem Stil und ihrem Songwriting gefestigt ist und über das nötige Vermögen verfügt, ausladende Ideen spannungsreich und fesselnd umzusetzen. Die aus Moskau stammenden THE MORNINGSIDE treten mit einem 50-minütigen Drei-Tracker an, der ‚The Trees‘ Part eins bis drei umfasst. Der Zusatz des beschließenden Teils stellt dabei den Titel „TreeLogia”. Die Erweiterung in Klammern – „(The Album As It Is Not)“ – haben die Russen gewählt, weil ein dreigeteilter Monumental-Song ihrer Ansicht nach noch keine Platte ausmacht. Der Sinn dieser Begründung erschließt sich nicht, denn ein Longplayer definiert sich über Spielzeit und kreativen Gehalt, ist unabhängig von der bloßen Anzahl an Stücken. THE MORNINGSIDE legen schließlich weder eine Single noch eine Remix-Scheibe vor. Stattdessen sind sie melancholisch-melodischen Klängen auf Albumlänge verschrieben, die partiell in den Doom hineinreichen, letztlich aber zumeist eine schleppende, rockige Schwere wahren. Tendenziell geht es auf „TreeLogia (The Album As It Is Not)“ in Richtung My Dying Bride, doch deren tragisch-düstere Anmutung und die ergreifende Wirkung ihrer Tracks erreichen THE MORNINGSIDE nicht einmal im Ansatz. Die Moskauer Musiker lassen im Aufbau ihrer Stücke Zielstrebigkeit und Spannung vermissen. Häufig scheinen sie allein vor sich hin zu plätschern, ohne dass es dramaturgisch weiter geht oder klare Bilder entwickelt werden. Mit zunehmender Spielzeit ermüdet das zusehends, so dass es zum Geduldsspiel wird, die 50 Minuten in Gänze durchzuhören.

Author: AK

Review
Horror News
23.11.2011

Concept albums came into prominence with The Who’s Tommy back in the 60s, and continue a rich tradition of storytelling in music to this day. In TreeLogia (The Album as It Is Not), The Morningside gives us a new twist on the concept album; a fifty-minute single. TreeLogia is an exposition of the song The Trees from previous album The Wind, the Trees and the Shadows of the Past, and tells the story of a man becoming a tree in reality or maybe just in his head.

Songs about trees in a concept album may bring back memories of Rush’s Hemispheres, and rightly so. The Morningside creates a sound similar to early Rush, with long, atmospheric songs filled with meandering guitar riffs and timely vocals. Of course, The Morningside’s version of this style is significantly darker, and a little heavier, but what would you expect from a doom metal band.

The album opens with four minutes of storm sound effects and gentle synth tones, developing a bit of a psychedelic feel, then merges into a bright guitar riff that defines most of TreeLogia. To that, The Morningside layers in a base of doom guitar that accentuates the lead guitar.

On drums, Boris Surgeev drives the beat, and Ilya Egorchev plays bass in a rhythm section that neither stands out, nor detracts from the songs. They mostly play within the bounds set by the guitars. In fact, I had to listen several times to pick out the bass at all. The duo is certainly talented, as listening to older Morningside proves, but TreeLogia calls for more sedate action from the two, and they provide professional quality.

Vocals on the album come from Igor’s deep, hoarse voice. His growling delivery fits with the drums, bass and rhythm guitar, but seems a bit out of place among the high notes on lead guitar. At times it sounds like James Hetfield’s voice singing to Joe Satriani—high praise for both band members, but just not together. At worst, the effect is mildly distracting, so this isn’t a big problem for the album.

I like this album as background music while working or playing a game. I just don’t find myself craving it. TreeLogia is a must-have for Morningside fans, but doesn’t offer enough to those looking for more than just a mood-setter.

Author: Leo Godin

Review
Mtuk Metal Zine

Following 2009’s rather triumphant release, ‘Moving Crosscurrent of Time’, The Morningside have surfaced once again with a rather unusual beast. A concept EP, based around a reworking of one of their older tracks, in three parts, that comes in at just over three quarters of an hour in length. Fair enough chaps, you have my attention…

After some vehement checking, I did finally establish that this was an EP rather than a full album, given the confusing title and the fact that it comes in at the length of an average one and half Slayer albums, or if you look at it another way, one Pombagira song, but anyway… It’s quite clear that The Morningside have something of a soft spot for trees, and Treelogia builds upon the reverence first suggested on 2007’s ‘The Wind, The Trees and the Shadows of the Past’. The EP is basically a reworking, and indeed an elaboration of the original track ‘The Trees’ from that debut album. Building off of an extended keyboard driven intro, these guys are definitely not ones to rush things, letting the atmosphere build for a good 4 minutes before we are given even a sniff of a song. There are unquestionably positive comparisons to be drawn with Agalloch here, in the way that something so long and drawn out can continue to hold the interest, and in fact mesmerise, just in setting a mood. Once the song begins at around the four and a half minute mark, you cannot help but feel relaxed and in tune with the music, which can be best described as positive melancholy. The guitars of Sergey Chelyadinov and Igor Nitkin tell stories of their own with the melodies, with that Paradise Lost / Katatonia style sound that serves this style and pace of music so well. The lead guitar almost seems to be singing a backing vocal to Nitkin’s coarse rasp which has much in common with Enslaved’s Grutle Kjellson.

As you would expect with a concept piece like this, the transition between Parts 1&2 of ‘The Trees’ is pretty much seamless, just a feeling of moving into the next phase. Some of the guitar leads on here are quite frankly, achingly beautiful, which whilst not in the same technical league as Steve Vai or Dave Gilmour, manage to conjure up the same emotions in me as when I listen to ‘Comfortably Numb’ or ‘For The Love Of God’. Quite how they manage to achieve this given that in comparison to the two artists above, this is very simplistic, it’s quite astonishing and worthy of the highest praise. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me being a great big soft git. The third part of this three part tale is so large, that it itself has been broken down into 3 parts. It’s during this that I realise that despite the very clear and massive Agalloch and Katatonia influences, The Morningside are increasingly finding a voice of their own and are starting to express it confidently. This pleases me greatly.

I did have my doubts about this one when I saw that it was reworking an already existing track and figured it to be a largely pointless exercise, yet how wrong I was! This is certainly the most creative I have heard The Morningside get, and the signs are good for the future. If you are the type of person who keeps all their music on a random mix, this will not work for you. You will need some time when you can lie in a dark, quiet room, undisturbed, and then Treelogia needs to be heard and digested in its entirety to get the full benefit from it. No, they are still not the most original band on the planet, and I still don’t care. This is an excellent and thoughtful work. I love it. You should too. Let’s all go tree hugging!

Author: Lee Kimber