Morgion

One of America's most underrated entries into the doom/death metal arena, Orange County, CA's Morgion were formed in 1990 by Jeremy Peto (vocals/bass), Dwayne Boardman (guitars/vocals), and Rhett Davis (drums). The Rabid Decay demo and a 7" single called "Travesty" appeared in 1992 and 1993, respectively, but it wasn't until four years later that the band — by then rounded out by guitarist Bobby Thomas and Ed Parker on keyboards — managed to score a record deal with Relapse Records, and released its full-length debut, Among Majestic Ruin. With its epic sonic tapestries composed of crawling, atmospheric, down-tuned, yet judiciously melodic doom/death metal, the album (which had reportedly already been in the can for three years) followed in the footsteps of English pioneers such as Paradise Lost and Katatonia with its sheer depressive, suicidal conviction, and landed Morgion touring stints with the likes of Entombed and Autopsy. The band also found time to participate in a Celtic Frost tribute album and perform at the Milwaukee Metal Fest before recording 1999's even more impressive Solinari opus. By then, Thomas and Parker had been replaced by multi-instrumentalist Gary Griffith (guitars/keyboards), and the group seemed stronger than ever, but subsequent disagreements over touring commitments and overall musical direction resulted in an acrimonious and seemingly final parting of ways. That is, until the dust settled and Morgion decided to reunite in 2002 — only minus founding member Peto — who was replaced by bassist Justin Christian on the group's inconsistent third album, Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth, released in 2004. Morgion was renamed Dustflow a short time later and, in 2008, Relapse Records issued a retrospective of the former group's classic years combining their first two LPs with unreleased demos and outtakes.