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Sadness, despair, brilliant packaging, all fused together to
form a competently done, albeit somewhat dreary, release. Upon first listen,
Solinari didn't do all that much for me, but I recognized that these guys
belong to the Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride camp, groups which I pull
out only in certain moods. Well, it made it's way back into the player a couple
more times, and I actually began to appreciate the forced pace (the word plodding
comes to mind) of the album. For me, this album was perfect one rainy Sunday night,
a time usually reserved for gearing down and preparing for the mental anguish
which accompanies each Monday morning. As is the curse with Gothic Metal, themes
do tend to seem a bit pompous and skirt the line of pretensiousness, but Morgion appear
to have studied the great albums of the past, and as I said, created an above
average composition. As I also stated, the complete package is quite
amazing, from the epic production to the striking artwork. A bit cryptic in the
lyrical department, but from what I can discern, somewhat "dark sidish" in nature,
you know, left hand path and all. I guess the only thing that may bother me is
the similarity to another Orange County group, Mindrot. A lot of the album
sounds a tad too similar to the slower sections of Dawning, but hey, since Evan
Kilbourne left for Save Ferris and Mindrot dissolved, someone has to fill that
substantial musical gap! This album depresses the hell out of me, but since I
believe that's the intention, it's a success. So, while a bit heavy-handed at
times, and not the most original release, it has its strong points, and as a
band, Morgion certainly know their craft.
7 out of 10
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