Morrow (Seattle) has a new single

OFFICIAL: Morrow was born through Trevor Eulau’s love of melodic black metal and post rock, using these genres as his the gateways for his deep melancholic expression. In may of 2015, the Debut EP Forgotten was released which ranged from slow, depressive doom metal, to cascading tremelo picking and blast beated black metal. Trevor then enlisted a full band to extend his vision, and they have released the single “Last Light” in anticipation for the forthcoming full length.

influences: Agalloch, Woods of Desolation, Sacramentum, Lantlos, Wolves in the Throne Room, Joy Division, Alcest, Deafheaven, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Pallbearer, Yob

*

*

*

THESE REVIEWS might be useful to readers new to the sound of Morrow. These reviews come Metal Archives and are included here for purposes of reference and information only.

*

*

Morrow is a very new band that has only been in existence since 2015, that is if you disregard the fact the the project functioned under the "Black Tears" moniker. The band hails from Seattle, Washington and is a welcome addition to the ever growing and ever promising USBM that we have today.

Last Light is a single the band released digitally in 2016 and is a great indicator of what's to come from this four member band in the near future. The track spans for a little over 9 minutes and takes you to many places and creates many interesting soundscapes throughout its total run time.

I was greeted with an elegant instrumental passage during the first couple of seconds where the acoustic guitar work is masterfully executed and excels in establishing and air of melancholy and desolation. The listener is then treated to a black metal assault commandeered by raspy vocals that grate against your ear drums. The single takes many shapes and forms throughout its duration and is a definite indicator of the fact that Morrow is headed in the right direction.

The riffing is exceptional and the guitar solos are melodic and adept enough to draw your attention, the vocals are raspy and in your face whilst the drumming is fast and helps give an overall direction to the music. The only downside I see is the production, the instruments should've been balanced better, but I believe that Morrow will get things together on the production front as time goes by.

*

*

*

Man, six or seven years ago this is exactly the sort of stuff I'd lose my **** over. Being the kind of cringe-worthy annoying teen who thought straight ahead black metal was inherently regressive and the more influences outside of black metal the better, I flocked to the kind of bands Morrow are drawing their inspiration from. I still dig the middle three Agalloch albums, the Skagos debut is cool, Fen's first album is legit and the first Altar of Plagues is insanely good, but in general I've really stopped caring about this scene. The whole post-black/cascadian/blackgaze/whatever-the-hell-else sort of scene reached it's peak around 2009 and really, it has stagnated quite a bit in recent years.

So, where does Morrow fit in? Well, they're not particularly original and we've all heard this sort of stuff time and again from black metal's wimpier side, but I have to say there's really an incredible amount of potential to be found with this young band. Their more atmospheric side is generally brilliant, if not occasionally bordering on boring prog. The lead guitar here is incredibly good and the soaring from-the-mountain-tops solo in the middle is absolutely stunning. The more brooding leads are quite evocative too, being reminiscent of early Cormorant. Although there's one pretty good melodic riff, the tremolo riffing is generally earthy and lethargic. It kind of seems like a take on Wolves In The Throne Room without the means to really capture that sort of atmosphere.

They did a good job here, but "Last Light" probably didn't need to be nearly ten minutes. It still looks like they're figuring things out in the songwriting and arrangement department and this was probably a bit too ambitious for where they're at. A 6 minute song would have turned out much better as some sections do drag on too long. Also, the mixing is a bit uneven here. The production sounds pretty sweet for the clean sections, but when the metal kicks in, the guitar gets buried and the reverbed-to-all-hell vocals are a bit too high in the mix.

Criticism aside, this is definitely very promising for such an early release in their discography. While it didn't reignite my love for this type of folky sort-of black metal, I'd be lying if I didn't really enjoy the leads and the clean sections. They do have a ways to go with the black metal, and it falls into the classic trap for this substyle - no real riffs (asides from the aforementioned melodic one). It will be interesting to see where they'll go with a bit more experience under their belt.

www.morrowofficial.bandcamp.com/album/last-light-single

www.morrowofficial.bandcamp.com/album/forgotten

www.facebook.com/morrowofficial/