January 27, 2013

Morne - Asylum



Morne's Asymum from 2011 is now available on their Bandcamp page. The 17 minute title track opens the album with a strong dose of atmospheric sludge. 4 minutes 20 seconds into the song comes that moment. A beautiful little piano melody is being played on top of crushing guitar interplay; and you get lost in the music. Josh from That's How Kids Dies explains the lure of Morne so eloquently:
It’s something about the guitar tone. Milosz Gassan and Jeff Hayward somehow channel ghosts through their amplifiers, pushing air that crackles with spectral electricity. The unearthly distortion comes in waves, crashing against the rhythms before crumbling into the aether ever so slowly, leaving phantom trails in its wake.
The vocals are of the pained shouts variety, so prevalent in sludge metal. The gruff style fits the album, because it is juxtaposed with the layers and textures the other musicians in Morne create. Check out the doomy My Return and marvel at that riff; the way echo is added to the vocals making the song sound larger, the constant gloom created by the keyboards, and off course the way the song ultimately drowns you in a sea of guitars and haunting keyboards. Morne are masters of the sludgy craft.


[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

2 comments:
  1. I listened to this one again recently; it holds up better than I expected it to. "I Will See You" (that endless storm of riffs) is my personal favorite.

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    1. The title track is still my favorite. Once that little piano melody joins forces with the massive guitars I'm completely sold.

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