Morrigan: Enter the Sea of Flames

For their second album, Enter the Sea of Flames, appearing a mere year following the debut (Plague, Waste and Death), Morrigan felt a little tighter, doing more interesting things with the sound rather than simply writing an aural love letter to Bathory.  Although without a doubt that influence is strongly present on Enter... as it would be throughout Morrigan's career.

After an effects-laden intro we get the groove-driven, slow paced 'Beyond the Green Hills', again featuring a really chunky guitar sound similar to the debut.  This one delivers some clean backing vocals that will once again remind the listener of some of those Quorthon utilised.  Speed is picked up substantially for 'Thy Armageddon', complete with mid-paced interlude and a pummelling finale.  Next things notch down a couple of gears again to bring to mind Hammerheart with 'Thy Ravens Lay', which is good stuff aside from being possibly a tad long.  (Trivia note: as singer Beliar closes the track you would swear it was Quorthon behind the mic...)  Morrigan evidently loved incorporating 'bitch' into their song titles, as can be seen again with mid-to-faster paced 'Come on, Bitch, Be My Victim'.  We are back in Hammerheart territory when 'To Honour the Brave' arrives, then the pace shifts upwards again as 'In Cold Blood' rips your face off, complete with an Under the Sign... style of solo and a 'Pace Til Death' vibe throughout.  'Anam Cara' is epically melancholic prior to the manic album closer and title track.

If there's one criticism I would level at Enter... it's that it can come across as slightly repetitive, although that has less to do with the frequently changing pace of the songs and more to do with the samey guitar tone across most of the album.  It is quite a decent listen and grew on me over a period of a few months (initial reaction wasn't one of astonishment), proving to be a worthy follow-up to Plague, Waste and Death, though better was to come.

Morrigan: Plague, Waste and Death

Morrigan rose sneakily from the ashes of Mayhemic Truth near the turn of the millennium, producing Plague, Waste and Death as their first official album, although when I say official you must remember that Morrigan have always retained the heart of the underground.  They've never scaled to the status of acquiring what you would call a known record label behind them, which is a shame because they've always struck me as a strong, moderately distinctive (despite the influences - see below) Black Metal act, and I enjoy much of what they've output - I feel that with an organisation such as Nuclear Blast or Season of Mist behind them the German outfit could have achieved more.

I've collected all of their albums over the years, some of them not easy to come by - Plague... is my final purchase and completes my collection.  It demonstrates the heavier side of Black Metal, with a solid guitar sound layered with typically rasping vocals.  Since first reading about them some years ago I have been aware that Morrigan are heavily influenced by Bathory, a fact that clearly manifests itself numerous times across their catalogue.  What surprised me about Plague... is just how bloody in-your-face that influence is!  Many of the tracks are a bizarrely close mix of the masterpiece that is Blood, Fire, Death and Black Metal landmark The Return.  For primary example, 'The Arrival of Dana' veers almost too close for comfort between 'A Fine Day to Die' and 'Blood Fire Death' (the title track of the 1988 album), to a point where the musicians must surely have accidentally gotten themselves a bit mixed up during rehearsals.  'Arrival of Dana' is, to be fair, credited as a salute to Quorthon in the liner notes, and having said all that the very reason I got into Morrigan in the first place was because they kind of filled the gap left by Quorthon's unfortunately premature death.

Elsewhere, the face-ripping opening/title track displays echoes of 'Pace Til Death'; the fantastically titled 'This Bitch Will Burn at Night' has shades of 'Born for Burning' of course; 'In Memoriam' will not fail to remind fondly of 'Reap of Evil's infamous demon-speak sequence; 'Straight War' must surely be inspired by 'Dies Irae'; while 'Requiem' has, with its change of pace, more of a Hammerheart vibe.  Aside from a 'Raining Blood'-esque riff 'Ashes to Ashes' edges a bit more towards some of the ripping Under the Sign... material before the album closes with slower 'Where the Angels Keep Silence', again glancing in the general direction of Hammerheart - get the idea?

Are/were Morrigan a carbon copy of Bathory?  To some extent, and on occasions, resoundingly yes!  Having said that their own character shone through during their seven album (not including Mayhemic Truth) career.  And anyway, reasonably effectively aping Bathory in a world sadly missing Quorthon is not necessarily a bad thing for this fan, even if they could never quite match the sheer power of the Swede in his prime.