Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth

Ever wondered what the sound of antiquity sounded like? As if the soul of the earth itself opened up and released a vast and unending wave of elemental monolithic behemoths upon an unsuspecting world. This album is perhaps the closest thing you will ever come to this. Not unlike two tectonic plates slowly crashing and grinding into each other has something so primal yet oddly beautiful been created. Lacking much of the prior releases heaviness this album is yet another expansion of Morgion's already original sound.

The production is perhaps slightly better than on the bands last effort. The guitars are a mix of open ended heaviness with a lot of fuzzy distortion. There isn't a lot of palm muting, the band dropped most of that after their first release. There are clean and acoustic moments laced in throughout. The last track also contains a fairly decent solo. They add a vast amount of atmosphere to the already deep and somber songs.

The bass is its own entity for most of the album almost acting like a second guitar at times. Both stringed instruments working in tandem when appropriate. The drums are bombastic, tight and creative. They (like the rest of the instruments) don’t' stagnate. There are some keyboards that add a thick foggy layer of atmosphere to the dense wall of guitar noise. The vocals are a mixed bag of good guttural Death growls and semi-haphazard clean vocals. Its apparent that the vocalist isn't used to singing clean but his voice does the job well enough.

The lyrics are deep and poetic, and not fantasy based like in the past. The music is very slow and uniquely epic. There is a harsh yet mellow feel to the sound. This is something that MUST be listened to all the way through, you can't pick and choose tracks. The band truly outdid themselves this time although their expansion took them into more melodic territories. There is a romantic feeling in the music as well, as if it was written by someone longing for an end, whether to life or existence is unknown. The effect is still the same however.

Unfortunately the group disbanded shortly after this came out. Thankfully they left a brilliant epitaph in their wake. Black Metal isn't the only kind of Metal to play while wandering through the dark woods at night as this album shows us. This is almost something holy considering its presentation and delivery. This is highly recommended to all Doomsters as they will surely find something of great interest here.

Morgion unfortunately ceased to exist after Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth. Some of them went off to establish Keen of the Crow, but not only was it quite different than Morgion it also was a whole lot less good. Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth is the only Morgion record that is still easy to find. But do not despair! It's just a matter of days before the Morgion compilation comes out which will include Solinari and Among Majestic Ruin amongst others. Unfortunately I cannot make any comparisons between new and old Morgion yet as I have never been able to obtain the first two albums. The first thing that struck me while listening to Cloaked...was the peacefulness. If you are ever stressed out just turn this one on and I guarantee you that you will experience the pleasant relaxing effects within a matter of seconds. Everything sounds rather light, but there are some genuine heavy moments scattered throughout the record as well. One thing that remains fairly dominant is the fact that it's quite slow and seldomly speeds up. Throughout Cloaked...you will hear all kinds of nature samples like gulfs crashing against a shore. An acoustic guitar can also be frequently heard. All of these elements make up for a very pleasant and peaceful experience.


Luckily this doesn't mean it's all bees and butterflies as Cloaked...is still gloomy all the way. And there lies the strength. They manage to combine the peacefulness with a dark and gloomy setting. The Mourner’s Oak is one of the standout tracks. It starts with some excellent singing accompanied by well-structured clean guitarplay. Soon the distorted guitars step in, breaking through the relaxing ambiance before again the distortion fades away making room for another period of clean guitars. The Mourner’s Oak also features subtle use of keys further enhancing the deep and rich atmosphere. Towards the ending growled vocals make their way up and we are treated with some nice dual vocal action. The transaction between the tracks is very fluent. All of them seemlessly integrate into one another. This keeps the constant mystical atmosphere alive without any interruption. The production is perfect. Fairly polished but not too. There is still room for some necessary rawness giving Cloaked..an organic feel. It’s most unfortunate that Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth meant the end of Morgion. They were clearly a very talented bunch and my expectations are quite high when it comes to their previous material.

Doom Metal is one of the genres where anything can happen. Unlike, say, Death or Thrash, Doom songs can go for ages without any problems, and all sorts of different moods and styles can be added. You can add Jazz, you can add Ambient, you can add a Death Metal feel, you can add Post Rock. Morgion, however, add a whole lot of bland to their version of Doom Metal.

So.. what does it sound like? Put simply, Morgion combine heavy-ish riffing with lots of clean parts. Not a bad thing, as long as you do it right. You don't want to sound like a Doom Opeth. The Slow, Sabbath like riffing is decent, but the production isn't raw and thick enough for this album. Doom needs heavy, crushing guitars, and while the guitars aren't exactly weak, they're not heavy enough to ever make the songs really heavy. Some songs, like Ebb Tide and She, the Master Covets (terrible song title) get close to achieving the crushing, overwhelming
waves of distortion that you need in Doom Metal, but none really get over the line.
Maybe it just means the bass isn't turned up loud enough. Regardless, it's not quite as heavy as you'd like it. The growled vocals are great though, and fit the songs quite well.

Unfortunately the clean vocals are terrible. They are disgusting. The singer has one of the weakest clean vocals I've heard in a long long time. There's no power in his voice, no volume. Basically, it sounds like he's still nervous of singing in front of people. It's a pain really, because the clean vocals come in during the best parts.. the clean bits. The heavy parts are adequate, but the clean bits are pretty cool. Ebb Tide has a great tranquil intro, with some subtle and fairly awesome synths, and The Mourner's Oak has a long, steady build up, and is maybe the one song where the clean vocals don't completely ruin the tune. The one complaint with the clean bits is that they all sound fairly similar. Very similar, really.

In the end, the whole album just drags on into one long monotonous dirge. A bit more variation would be good! So, would I recommend this? Well, no. I'm not exactly going to run back and refund my CD, and it could be a lot worse, but this is a cd that the instant you put it on, you forget it's on.

For me, this album is without possible dispute, the best album so far in 2004, and there is little possibility of something else coming out to overtake it in the next six months. Filled to the brim with rich, gorgeous sonic and (as well as verbal) poetry, Cloaked By Ages... is one of the best doom releases ever, and the definite highlight in an amazing band's career thusfar. The album moves from crushing heaviness to unrelenting melodies swiftly, smoothly, and masterfully. Each song creates its own mood and sound and stands well alone, while at the same time coming together with the rest of the album to create a cohesive work.

Throughout their career, the band has been moving clearly forward, each release being better, deeper, more ornate than the last.

Particularly worth mentioning are the vocals, which were performed by the band's guitarists, who have been in the band since the beginning. The previous albums had different vocalists, who were certainly very good themselves, but this release really makes a listener wonder why they would have looked elsewhere. Both the clean and growled voices are perfect, and accentuate further the incredible songwriting.

Especially highlighting the greatness of the album are the songs "The Mourner's Oak" and "Crowned in Earth."

All in all, this album only needs one word to describe it: Flawless. If you like music, you will like this album.

For me, this is probably the most anticipated album of this year. in 1999 Morgion released Solinari, an album that has never ceased to blow me away with its unparalled atmosphere, brilliant arrangements, great lyrics and crushing power. Along the way these Californians broke up, then reformed, then had lineup problems, and had label problems, which is to be expected from a label that worships every math or grindcore band like it was the (un)holy grail.

There are only 2 members remaining from the lineup that recorded Solinair, new to the fold are Bassist Justin Christian and Guitarist/Vocalist Dwayne Boardman. It is clear to anyone that changes would be apparent in the Morgion sound and this is abundantly clear listening to this album. After a brief instrumental prelude the songs that were featured on the Slow Succoming...Ebb Tide EP play. These versions are much cleaner produced than on the EP, the emphasis more on atmosphere than heaviness, but heaviness is still very apparent. The Drum production is awesome and the guitars remain searingly clear as they were on Solinari.
As well one quickly notices the new emphasison clean vocals, perhaps close to half the vocals are clean on this disc in contrast to Solinari where grunts predominated. These two tracks ( A Slow Succombing and Edd Tide Pts 1 and 2) are the best on this disc. From this point on the album loses its epic feel as the following songs all hover around the 5-6 minute range. Another highlight is the Mourner's Oak that proves that clean vocals can add power to a song. The final track, Crowned in Earth, is followed by a few minutes of silence before an ambient outro plays, giving closure to this outstanding release.

If any of you liked Solinari and aren't afraid of clean vocals here you will like this album as well. It seems to be a natural progression from Solinari as much as Solinari was a natural progression from Among Majestic Ruin. The lyrics again are top notch, it is well wroth the wait. I am now admist my 3rd listen, and at first I wasn't sure how I felt about this album, but after a few listens it grows on you. Final verdict: Another oustanding release from one of Doom's most powerful bands.