Morost – Solace in Solitude

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The strength of Solace in Solitude lies in the structure of the album as a whole and within the individual songs. Morost build and develop their sound through twisting the tempo and shifting the tone in a competent and disciplined manner, creating a feeling similar to Opeth’s Orchid. From the instrumental, the guitars possess a dirty quality that contributes to the vibe and atmosphere as they shift between long, slow, melodic passages and speedy, crushing riffs. Keys reside in the background, providing a menacing undertone to match the dark and heavy work of the guitar, while percussion keeps in step with the rest of the band, speeding up for some passages, slowing down for others, and throwing in a few quirky beats here and there. Vocals come in the form of a full frontal growling assault that is less guttural and more feral, with a degree of consideration taken for enunciation.

One of the downfalls of the album is the mix. The guitar and vocals are pushed right to the front, with everything else taking a backseat to the wall of sound; this is unfortunate, since some interesting riffs and melodies pop up and sneak by undetected. It feels like a lot of unique ideas were created, but Morost tried to cram too many of them into the work and were forced to tune it down to keep things from becoming a jumbled mess. A classic case of the eyes being bigger than the stomach. Despite the subpar mix, the sound is still interesting with an evident amount of thought put into its shape and direction. Perhaps next time they will give equal attention to what content will be beneficial instead of jam packing twists to the point where they need to be tucked away into the background.

Overall, Morost bring forth a strong effort crippled by a few creative decisions. Solace in Solitude is a solid effort from a band that knows how to develop their concept, but try to implement too many of them into their work. With some fine tuning and careful attention to detail, the next piece of work from Morost could be great. They’re definitely worth keeping an ear on.

Morost – Solace in Solitude
Reader Rating0 Votes
3.5
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Steve
Presiding over the frozen tundra of Ontario atop his mighty polar bear of war, Steve seeks out the metal that he claims, “has a sweet groove, dude.” His musical tastes were raised by his father upon the likes of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Dio, but it wasn’t long before he began tuning his ears to darker and stranger avenues. Finding solace within the domains of prog, stoner, and power metal, he continues to make expeditions into genres unexplored, delving into their history while keeping an eye peeled on the horizon for rising stars.
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