Morphia was a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 symphonic

Symphonic metal

Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...

 death/doom

Death/doom

Death/doom, sometimes writes as death-doom or deathdoom, is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal...

 metal band formed in 1995. Having performed concerts with groups such as After Forever

After Forever

After Forever was a Dutch symphonic metal band with strong progressive metal influences. The band relied on the use of both soprano vocals and death grunts. In February 2009, it was announced that After Forever had disbanded.-Biography:...

, Epica

Epica (band)

Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded by guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen subsequent to his departure from After Forever. They are known for their symphonic sound and the use of female vocals and male growls performed by Simone Simons and Mark Jansen, respectively. All six members write...

, Autumn, Orphanage

Orphanage (band)

- History :The band formed in 1993 and released their first demos Morph and Druid . Orphanage then recorded their first full album Oblivion and one year later released their second album, By Time Alone. Then released 1997 the band the EP At The Mountains Of Madness and worked three years on the...

 and Imperia

Imperia (band)

Imperia is a symphonic gothic metal band with opera influences from the Netherlands. They are fronted by vocalist Helena Iren Michaelsen. The band consists of Helena Iren Michaelsen, Gerry Verstreken, John Stam, Jan "Örkki" Yrlund, Steve Wolz and Audun Gronnestad.-Discography:* The Ancient Dance of...

, Morphia has established themselves as one of the more prominent symphonic doom metal bands in the Netherlands. Signed to Dutch Fear Dark Records, Morphia has released 3 studio albums, musically evolving from death metal

Death metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

 to gothic doom over the years. The band name comes from morphine

Morphine

Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...

, a medical drug used to relieve pain, but it is also a reference to Morpheus

Morpheus (mythology)

Morpheus in Greek mythology is the god of dreams, leader of the Oneiroi. Morpheus has the ability to take any human form and appear in dreams...

, the principal god of dreams in the Greek mythology.

Biography

In 1995, Werner Wensink (vocals/bass),Bert Bonestroo (mixer), Martin Koedoot (guitar), Roger Koedoot (guitar), Josef mansour (drums), and Peter Tulder (keyboards) formed Morphia as a death metal band, which evolved over time to symphonic doom metal. In 1997, they released a demo CD titled Poison Minded. In 1998, they recorded their first album titled Unfulfilled Dreams, which was published in 1999. Once they reached a certain reputation, the singer Werner left the band. When Jasper Pieterson joined as a singer for the band, they wrote new songs, and recorded them in 2001 for the second album titled Frozen Dust. Morphia signed a record deal with the Dutch label Fear Dark which released the album in 2002. Over the time Morphia played with well-known groups such as After Forever and Saviour Machine

Saviour Machine

Saviour Machine is an American Christian metal band that formed in 1989. They have released five studio albums and two live albums on Frontline and subsequently on MCM Music, distributed through Massacre Records...

. In November 2004, the band released their third album titled Fading Beauty.

The band played their final show on November 22, 2008 at Gigant Apeldoor, as part of the Brainstorm Festival 2008. It was recorded on DVD, which was released in 2009.

Music

Morphia's take on metal is "deep, emotional, and sleepy" with varied tempos changing from slow to fast pace. The vocals emphasize on death growl

Death growl

A death growl, also known as death metal vocals, guttural vocals, death grunts, and harsh vocals among other names, is a vocalisation style usually employed by vocalists of the death metal and black metal music genre, but also used in a variety of heavy metal and hardcore punk subgenres.Death...

s. Additionally, there some clean vocals, usually in the background, and occasional screaming. A majority of the lyrics deal with topics such as pain, fear, affection and faith. The music ranges from complex to pompous, calm style, incorporating violin and other symphonic elements.

Discography

• Poison Minded (1997)
• Unfullfilled Dreams (1999)
• Frozen Dust (2002)
• Fading Beauty (2004)

Line up

Current:
Current line-up
Ernst-Jan Lemmen: Drums
Peter van Tulder: Keyboards/Vocals
Jasper Pieterson: Vocals/Bass
Martin Koedoot: Guitar
Ester: Violin
Vincent Eisen: Guitar

Former:

• Roger Koedoot - guitar (1995–2005)
• Erik van Tulder - bass (1999–2005)
• Werner Wensink - vocals, bass (1995–1999)

Sessionmusicians:

• Esther Wertwijn - violin on "Meaning Of Forever II", "Memories Never Die", and "Fading Beauty"

External links

• Official website
• Official MySpace