by Ed RivadaviaOne of America's best (and only) entries into the doom/death metal arena, Orange County California's Morgion was 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 ‘92 and ‘93, respectively, but it wasn't until four years later that the band -- rounded out by guitarist Bobby Thomas and Ed Parker on keyboards -- managed to score a record deal with Relapse and release their full-length debut (already three years in the can) named Among Majestic Ruin. With its epic sound-scapes of crawling, atmospheric, down-tuned, yet judiciously melodic doom/death metal, the album challenged English pioneers such as Paradise Lost and Katatonia for sheer depressive, suicidal conviction, and led to touring stints for Morgion 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 satisfying (if morbidly so) 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 By then, Thomas and Parker had been replaced by multi-instrumentalist Gary Griffith (guitars/keyboards) and the group seemed stronger than ever, but subsequent disagreements over touring plans and their musical direction resulted in an acrimonious and seemingly final parting of ways. That is, until the dust settled and Morgion reunited in 2002 (minus founding member Peto, replaced by bassist Justin Christian) to begin work on an as yet unreleased third album.