Morgion (band)

''Morgion'' was an American doom/death metal band from Orange County, California, United States. Morgion was formed in 1990 by Dwayne Boardman (guitars), Jeremy Peto (vocals, bass), Mike Davis (guitars) and Rhett Davis (drums). The band recorded their debut “Rabid Decay” demo in 1991, followed by the “Travesty” 7" in 1993. With the addition of Bobby Thomas (guitars) and Ed Parker (keyboards) in 1994, Morgion recorded a what would become ''Among Majestic Ruin'', licensed for release to Relapse Records in 1996. In 1995, Gary Griffith joined Morgion as a replacement for Parker on keyboards. In 1998, Thomas departed and Griffith took on both guitar and keyboard duties. Morgion then wrote and recorded '' Solinari''; released by Relapse Records in 1999. After being shelved by Relapse Records because they didn't know how to promote the band and Jeremy Peto (bass/vocals) leaving, Morgion took a hiatus to recoup. 2002 saw the band moving forward with Justin Christian on Bass and an album partnership with Dark Symphonies. ''Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth'', the final album, was released in April 2004. Morgion toured Europe on the Doomination Tour, during that tour they decided it would be their last and Morgion would be no more. Despite their name being on the US Doomination Tour, Morgion did not play any shows. Rhett and Justin went as roadies for the other bands, Gary and Dwayne did not go. 2004 saw the official end of Morgion.

On April 19, 2008, former members Boardman (vocals/guitars), Christian (bass), Griffith (vocals/guitars/keyboards) and Surowski (drums) played a short Morgion set at the Murderfest in Hollywood, California to commemorate the release of Relapse Records' "Morgion: The Relapse Years." The appearance was planned to be the ''Solinari'' lineup, but a fallout between members changed plans. This would be the last ever show for Morgion. The Relapse release contains the recordings "Among Majestic Ruin" and ''Solinari'', along with previously unreleased songs, demos and rehearsal tracks from the Relapse era, all remastered February 2008 by Griffith and Mathais Schneeburger (who co-produced the albums ''Solinari'' and ''Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth'').

A compilation of early demo recordings entitled ''God of Death & Disease'' was released in 2012 by Dark Descent Records. The original ''Solinari'' lineup was invited to play a one-off "reunion" gig at Maryland Deathfest in 2012, but the bassist sustained an arm injury that forced the band to reschedule the show for the following year. Just a few short months before they were set to appear at Maryland Deathfest 2013, the lineup once again suffered a fallout between members and they were forced to cancel their appearance.

Trivia

Morgion is also the name of the god of plague and disease in the world of ''Dragonlance'', coinciding with their debut ''Rabid Decay'' and is where the band took their name from. Their album ''Solinari'' is also named after a god in the Dragonlance world, Solinari, as a god of magic and ruler of those who wear the white robes. Rhett Davis (lyrics and titles), not knowing his Dragonlance lore very well, stated that ''Solinari'' was the black moon in Dragonlance lore, but ''Solinari'' is in fact the name of the white moon. 'Nuitari' is the name of the black moon and, given the album artwork, is likely ''Solinari''s' true intended album title.

Members

Final line-up

*Dwayne Boardman - death vocals, guitars (1990–2001, 2002–2004)
*Gary Griffith - guitars, clean vocals, keyboards (1995–2004)
*Justin Christian - bass (2002–2004)
*Rhett Davis - drums (1990–1999, 2001–2004)

Former members

*Jeremy Peto - death vocals, bass (1990-2001)
*Bobby Thomas - guitar (1994-1996)
*Ed Parker - keyboards (1994-1995)
*Mike Davis - guitar (1990-1993)
*Jason Likus - guitar (1993)
*Brandon Livingston - keyboards (1999; died 1999)
*Peter Surowski - keyboards (2001-2002)
*Adrian Leroux - clean vocals, death vocals on Doomination Tour (2003)

Timeline

ImageSize =width:800 height:auto barincrement:25
PlotArea =left:120 bottom:80 top:0 right:15
Alignbars =justify
DateFormat =mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1990 till:12/01/2004
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1990
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1990
TimeAxis =orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend =orientation:vertical position:bottom

Colors=
id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar
id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums
id:studio value:black legend:Studio_Albums
id:other value:gray(0.5) legend:Demos/EPs
id:bars value:gray(0.95)

LineData=
at:06/01/1991 color:other layer:back
at:06/01/1992 color:other layer:back
at:03/01/1993 color:other layer:back
at:03/28/1997 color:black layer:back
at:02/23/1999 color:black layer:back
at:10/01/1999 color:other layer:back
at:06/01/2002 color:other layer:back
at:12/01/2002 color:other layer:back
at:06/01/2003 color:other layer:back
at:04/27/2004 color:black layer:back

BackgroundColors= bars:bars

BarData=
bar:Adrian text:"Adrian Leroux"
bar:Dwayne text:"Dwayne Boardman"
bar:Mike text:"Mike Davis"
bar:Bobby text:"Bobby Thomas"
bar:Ed text:"Ed Parker"
bar:Gary text:"Gary Griffith"
bar:Brandon text:"Brandon Livingston"
bar:Peter text:"Peter Surowski"
bar:Jeremy text:"Jeremy Peto"
bar:Justin text:"Justin Christian"
bar:Rhett text:"Rhett Davis"

PlotData =
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Adrian from:01/01/2003 till:04/01/2003 color:vocals
bar:Dwayne from:01/01/1990 till:09/11/2001 color:guitar
bar:Dwayne from:11/01/2001 till:04/01/2004 color:guitar
bar:Dwayne from:05/01/2003 till:04/01/2004 color:vocals width:3
bar:Mike from:01/01/1990 till:12/01/1993 color:guitar
bar:Bobby from:01/01/1994 till:06/01/1996 color:guitar
bar:Gary from:06/01/1995 till:06/01/1998 color:keys
bar:Gary from:06/01/1998 till:04/01/2004 color:guitar
bar:Gary from:05/01/2003 till:04/01/2004 color:vocals width:7
bar:Gary from:06/01/1998 till:04/01/2004 color:keys width:3
bar:Ed from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1995 color:keys
bar:Brandon from:05/01/1999 till:09/01/1999 color:keys
bar:Peter from:01/01/2001 till:04/01/2002 color:keys
bar:Jeremy from:01/01/1990 till:12/01/2001 color:bass
bar:Jeremy from:01/01/1990 till:12/01/2001 color:vocals width:3
bar:Justin from:01/01/2003 till:12/01/2004 color:bass
bar:Rhett from:01/01/1990 till:06/01/1999 color:drums
bar:Rhett from:06/01/2001 till:12/01/2004 color:drums

Discography

* ''Rabid Decay'' (1991)
* ''Live Rehearsal'' (1992)
* ''Travesty'' (1993)
* ''Among Majestic Ruin'' (1996)
* '' Solinari'' (1999)
* ''Cloaked by Ages, Crowned in Earth'' (2004)
* ''Morgion: The Relapse Years'' (2008)
* ''Morgion: God of Death & Disease'' (2012)

External links

Official Dark Symphonies website (Former Label)

Official Relapse website (Former Label)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgion
Heavy metal musical groups from California
American doom metal musical groups
Relapse Records artists
Musical groups established in 1990
Musical groups disestablished in 2004
Musical quartets
Musical groups from Orange County, California