THE WIND, THE TREES AND THE SHADOWS OF THE PAST

This album has been getting a LOT of airtime on my iTunes and iPod since I downloaded it. The English language just does not have enough superlatives to describe how good I think The Morningside's début album is!

I can hear a lot of influences in the background - all from some of my favourite doom and prog metal bands, such as Opeth and Katatonia. But the music never comes across as a rip-off of anyone else's work. They are just that - influences - and they all blend together into a unique sound that is at times driving and at others beautifully melancholy.

russelk is of the opinion that the songwriting could be better. I beg to differ. I think that all of the music is well written and well crafted, especially 'The Wind', which is perhaps the best track on the album. If anything lets this album down, it is Igor Nitkin's clean vocals on 'The Shadows of the Past', which are a little shaky.

Even so, this does not detract from an excellent album that takes you on a deep blue emotional journey through deep autumnal Russian forest - a must for any serious purveyor of doom!