Morkesagn are a relatively young quartet from Ukraine’s capital city Kiev, consisting of Heydvald (bass), Ekvil (vocals and guitars), Heisenbeard (drums), and Farn (guitars and backing vocals). Where The Darkness Never Ends is their first album, independently released the digital way and on CD via Farn Black Productions (I guess it’s owned by this band’s guitar player) with additional distribution assistance of Turkey’s Merdümgiriz.
The band is, as mentioned, from Ukraine, but the band name is Norwegian, meaning ‘the dark saga’, and it might give an idea of Morkesagn’s approach. As from the introductional opening sequence of Dungeons, a specific Nordic atmosphere takes over the listener’s mind, but when, after less than a minute, the full package shows its face, the Scandinavian scene opens its gates. Dungeons combines the rawness of the Finnish scene, the melodic elegance of the Swedish one, and the epic power of the Norwegian trend, with inclusion of the fine acoustic intermezzos. There is, besides a certain pride, quite some attention for variety, yet without losing its grip on cohesion. As a matter of fact, this whole album is just one of the better things ever done during the first half of the nineties. …with the difference that this has been created only recently. An aspect of that variety is that some pieces are quite catching and generally acceptable, while others blow the brains out of the listener’s head (no matter how shrimped that collection of grey cells might be).
The whole gets interspersed with fine solos – okay, once in a while it might be too much would-be, but the craftsmanship convinces. Even the sound has that essential flair that did characterise many bands from that era, and from that area. Moreover, the mix is above expectation, withholding a certain roughness, yet perfectly searching for an intelligent balance in between all individual aspects. I adore the fact that bass melodies and drum patterns are equally important as the guitar leads and vocals, for example.
A last note about the outro Throne Of Doom; great! The better part of the album might be little ‘predictable’ and ‘safe’, but this final piece truly adds something exhaustively majestic…
A warning be made, for the catchiness sometimes overwhelms the craftsmanship – it’s up to you how you deal with this aspect.
Fans of Naglfar, Watain, Tsjuder and Funeral Mist must pay attention!