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

Review
Infektion #6
9.5/10

A chuva que se ouve cair no início deste trabalho anuncia a melancolia que espreita à entrada da floresta para a qual os The Morningside nos convida, mas só la dentro e após algumas audições é que se dá conta o quanto evolvente e belo é o que se passa entre as suas árvores. Meus amigos estamos perante um álbum daqueles que é para ouvir, tornar a escutar e repetir a viagem vezes sem conta, até que a própria noção de tempo se perca. O Doom do conjunto russo já ameaçava tornar-se algo único e este último registo só veio confirmar isso mesmo. Posso dizer que estamos perante um dos melhores discos lançados este ano até a data. “TreeLogia (The Album As It Is Not)” não era para ser considerado o novo longa-duração como o sub-título indica, já que este trabalho pega no conceito e música do tema “The Trees” do primeiro álbum do grupo russo e dá-lhe uma nova cara, aperfeiçoada por uma carreira de 8 anos e promovida a uma trilogia com quase o quíntuplo da duração do original. É algo fascinante reconstruir uma composição do passado e transforma-la numa obra-prima. O ambiente sufoca, os riffs que se vão repetindo pelas três partes viciam e transmitem alguma nostalgia que faz mesmo lembrar o “Orchid” dos Opeth ou os trabalhos dos Agalloch, no entanto com a sua própria força e identidade. No final, três vezes seguidas já o disco rodou na aparelhagem e nós abraçados às árvores.

Author: Bruno Farinha

Review
Metal.tm
5/10
02.10.2011

Auch wenn „Treelogia (The Album As It Is Not)“ der Russen von THE MORNINGSIDE auf stolze 47 Minuten Spielzeit kommt, so haben wir es hier doch “nur” mit einer EP zu tun, die übrigens (da die drei Songs eine Triologie bilden) einen äusserst lustigen Namen hat. Mit zwei bereits erschienen Alben gehören die Herren übrigens auch schon nicht mehr so ganz zur Gattung der Newcomer, sondern haben sich mit ihrem äusserst melodischem Doom Metal schon einige Liebhaber erspielt, und wollen nun mit dieser EP weitere derer an Bord holen.

Doch das Unterfangen dürfte sich, ehrlich gesagt, als schwierig herausstellen. Nachdem man erst einmal knapp vier Minuten lang einzelnen wabernden Tönen, die mit Regen- und Gewittergeräuschen vermischt wurden, lauschen darf, bevor es dann so richtig mit der Treelogie losgeht. Obwohl losgehen hier wohl das falsche Wort ist. Mit einer bestechenden Langsamkeit arbeiten sich die Russen durch die 47 Minuten und lassen so wortwörtlich keine Eile aufkommen. Das Geschehen wird dabei grösstenteils von schleppenden, äusserst melodiösen Leadgitarren geleitet, welche sich mit Vorlieben in eher kitschigen Gefilden aufhalten. Hin und wieder kommen auch Growls dazu, doch meistens stehen eigentlich die Gitarren im Vordergrund. Durch die angesprochene Behäbigkeit suhlen sich die Gitarren regelrecht in den Melodien, wodurch diese bis aufs Äusserste wiederholt und ausgelutscht werden, sodass man schon nach dem fünften Durchgang darüber leicht genervt ist. Unterbrochen wird das Melodiengesäusel immer wieder von weiteren Gewittergeräuschen.

Eigentlich ist „Treelogia“ ja gar nicht so schlecht, auch wenn man sich eindeutig viel zu sehr auf die Melodien verlässt, aber es ist einfach schrecklicher Durchschnitt. Irgendwie hat man alles schon mal gehört, die Gitarren erinnern an MY DYING BRIDE, der Gesang ein bisschen an AGALLOCH und die Atmosphäre, nun ja, die ist eigentlich kaum vorhanden. Und wenn sie doch mal aufkommt, dann scheint es einem wie AGALLOCH-light. Die Langatmigkeit, mit der hier vorgegangen wird, macht das Ganze leider nicht besser, im Gegenteil. Dies zeigt sich auch dadurch, dass man nach dem dritten Teil das Gefühl hat, gerade knappe siebzig Minuten an Musik gehört zu haben, die sich mit gerade mal zehn verschiedenen Melodien zusammenfassen liesse. Natürlich, schlecht ist die EP nicht, wäre bei einem Winterspaziergang vielleicht sogar ein gefälliger Begleiter, einmalig vielleicht, doch es bleibt durchschnittlich, was hier abgeliefert wird. So werden THE MORNINGSIDE mit Sicherheit keine neuen Ausrufezeichen in der Szene setzen können. Eigentlich schade, denn Potential haben die Herren allemal.

Author: Tizian C.

Review
Doom-metal.com
30.08.2011

The Morningside emerged from Russia in 2007 with full-length release ’The Wind, The Trees And The Shadows Of The Past’. Reviewers in the doom/death community pounced immediately (and not without good reason) on their striking similarity to both Katatonia and Agalloch. Interestingly, it was also picked up elsewhere in the rock world as an almost pure prog/post album. Regardless of the review origin, though, there was a general consensus that - clone sound or not - it was actually very good.

That short history lesson is pertinent, because this release revisits the middle track of that album, "The Trees" and spins it out into a fully-fledged story of its own. Russian label Solitude Productions describe it as a CD-single lasting over 50 minutes and containing only one track, albeit split into three parts. Older folk will recognise that as, basically, what used to be called a concept album!

It's always been quite possible to take a perfectly good piece of music and ruin it by stretching it far too thinly over far too much ground - some of the worst and most indulgent rock albums ever released have done exactly that in trying to follow the concept path. Happily, ’TreeLogia’ is far from being one of those cases. The Morningside have played by all the appropriate rules. A central musical theme runs through the entire work: evolving, reprised, altered in tempo and key, but always recognisable. The lyrics of each movement link similar images of the central, unnamed, character in the depths of a mysterious forest: sketching out series of tableaux rather than telling a prosaic tale. Each part is long (between 12 and 21 minutes), complete in itself and yet still can bring an additional synergy when combined into the whole. Technically, it gets full marks for delivering the right framework.

All of which is of structural interest but does little to address what the album sounds like - it is a clear, clean, melodic twin-guitar-led sound with precise use of percussion and largely blackened, slightly harsh and hoarse vocals. Each song is built on the fusion and progression of uncluttered, individually simplistic yet elegant components, primarily constructed by the versatile guitars and occasionally fleshed-out with sparse hints of keyboard and sounds of rain, storm and burning. It unashamedly sets out to capture and manipulate the listener's mood and in that, it succeeds admirably. The musicianship, within a tightly-disciplined and well-integrated song structure, is exemplary and the clarity of the production deserves an honourable mention.

Unsurprisingly, given the source of the main theme, there is still more than a hint of "Brave Murder Day"-era Katatonia and "Pale Folklore"-era Agalloch in their sound. Take away the vocals, though - as is the case for much of the album's instrumental passages - and the music would stand equally valid comparison with much of the guitar-driven end of prog-rock and its descendents: those two bands, good as they are, hardly hold a monopoly on the use of liltingly melancholic and descending minor scales. There are echoes of everything from the twin-lead duelling of Wishbone Ash and the extended explorations of Porcupine Tree to Anathema's post-doom emotional tapestries and the later post-rock of Crippled Black Phoenix or Explosions In The Sky. Not that the vocals, of course, can be entirely put aside - it must be said that anyone without an appreciation of that doom/death style is likely to find them at best intrusive.

The album opens with an extended introduction on keyboard, with ambient sound woven in, riffs majestically through the first vocal interlude and fades away to a plaintive, almost regretful theme. Part two, really, is the extended remake/remix of the original "The Trees" - a lot of the rework and thematic evolution within the piece is to introduce a thread of uplifting hope and even joy into the music, before it merges into the closing thunderstorm. Against a backdrop of burning, the epic-length third part begins with heavy, tribal drumming and achingly distorted guitar, which gradually soars higher until it escapes the heart of darkness on an impassioned vocal passage. From there, clean melody lines phase into an undistorted reprise of the opening, drawing the cycle to conclusion. An invocation of season's end, and the natural order of things restored.

Whichever influences The Morningside have intentionally or accidentally brought together, the end result is truly emotive. It paints a melancholy yet hopeful soundscape in living, breathing colour with the express intent of transporting the listener to the place where the story exists. Try it. Stand in their twilit autumn forest with the cold rain falling and decide for yourself what stark beauty may still be found in the coming winter. Personally, I think there's plenty.

Author: Mike Liassides