Morne : " To the Night Unknown"

Boston's Morne is a sludge band that knows how to get in a groove. The throaty vocal come in with the kinda roar that is typical for this sort of thing falling somewhere between old Mastodon and Neurosis. More upbeat than Neurosis thus the Mastodon comparison comes in. Feedback screams out of their dense guitar tone like pieces of shrapnel. "Not Our Flame" mixes a more melodic blend of heavy chugged sludged out metal. The drums are almost death metal with the big wall of double bass they churn out. These guys are really good at keeping you hooked in with catchy riffs. "The Blood Is Our Own" more deliberate with the guitars giving the song a little more room to breathe. The vocals don't occupy this space any differently than there barked delivery employed in the first few songs. The song kind drones on it's own throb and dynamically proves to be a one trick pony.

"Scorn" is apocalyptically heavy in much the same way Neurosis' "Through Sliver and Blood" is, though it defaults to more of a metal chug then the kind of density Neurosis tends to employ. There is a slower and darker sense of melody to the guitars on "Show Your Wounds". The drums provide more motion to "Night Awaits the Dawn". With slight shifts in the groove this song rides it pretty much coasts along until a moodier more atmospheric shift develops. The last two songs find the more mournful undertone beginning to surface and has them leaning in the direction of doom with of the two songs finds "Surrendering Fear coming the close to the darkness even though the verse riff to the song also finds the band at their most emotionally soaring.

I'll give this album an 8. There are well constructed riffs that go beyond the rule of "cool riffs alone do not a good song make" and weave them into something with a very connected mood. I prefer the more melodic moments and the vocals are their weak spot limiting the overall sound to being pretty uniform at times. If you are looking for some sludge more rooted in metal than crust punk then this is a band worth your time.