Morpheus is a solo project for Fernando Manchado since 1998, when his first demo, "Malkuth", was self released as CD-ROM and cassette tape. Created entirely on a crumbling home computer with an 8-bit tracker, it managed nevertheless to attract the attention of local independent media due to the strength of its compositions, despite the bad quality of its sound. "Malkuth" was thus hailed as the first attempt in Spain at Apocalyptic Industrial-Dark Ambient-Ritual Musick, a genre pioneered by the legendary Swedish label Cold Meat Industry in the late eighties. The constant Crowleian and Gnostic references and the use of Hebrew mythology, however, were a departure from the military and authoritarian themes that overrule these styles and established Morpheus as a truly personal project and not a mere intent to clone his influences.
The first demo draft for "Ouroboros" -co-produced by La Defunción- soon followed, with a stronger industrial component and a greater deal of experimentation than that found on "Malkuth". The release of this album allowed Morpheus to perform live for the first time on the 31st of October of 1999 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with Verónica González on percussion, who has ever since been an unreplaceable element of the band's live shows.
Subsequent positive reviews and a slowly building fanbase led to Morpheus being invited to play at the Arcana Europa Meeting organised by cultural association Los Cantos de Maldoror in July 2000, alongside artists such as Elijah's Mantle, Rosa Crvx, Ataraxia or Sol Invictus. The project's increasing reputation caught the attention of spanish label Drama Company, who offered to release that which would be Morpheus' first official album: Elohim .
Elohim was the first true breakthrough for Morpheus, raising heads internationally for the first time and meeting unanimously enthusiastic reviews from specialized media throughout all Europe. The limited edition of the album (500 copies in A5 format) sold out quickly, and so a second, standard jewelcase edition had to be issued. This success encouraged Drama Company to re-release an enhanced version of "Ouroboros" in 2001 (with several remastered tracks and a fully redesigned artwork by R.G.Hernanz), and the first Chaos Condensed album, Cantus Post Machina in 2002.
Live acts in this period include supporting german neofolk duo Pilori in their Madrid concert, playing alongside Trajedesaliva and Deutsch Nepal, and leading Drama Company Festival in Barcelona.
Seeking further European projection, Morpheus contacted legendary Italian label Old Europa Cafe with a demo for the next album, Babylon: an ambitious piece of work inspired by the archetype of the city as a means for postmodern magick in opposition to the classical countryside, wildlife-based paganism. The demo was received with enthusiasm by Old Europa Cafe and the album was scheduled for release within the following months.
Babylon proved to be the best and most successful of Morpheus' works until then: collaborations from Francesco Banchini (Gor; member of Ataraxia at the time) and Pilori, an outstanding sound quality, more mature and complex compositions and the striking artwork of Ricardo Marichal made the album an instant cult classic among critics and fans alike. Furthermore, concerts with Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio (Halloween 2003 in Tenerife) and Gor (Ethereal Fest @ Barcelona, with spanish neofolk project Narsilion) confirmed that the band's live act had only improved with time.
Part of 2004 and most of 2005 was dedicated to the composition of what will probably be Morpheus' last work: Rebis. This album, still unreleased and redone several times almost from scratch, is meant to feature a 23-card fetish deck created exclusively with traditional photographic darkroom techniques, and is focused on bondage & submission, fetish, dualism, alchemy, and ritual sex magick. Featuring heavy sampling from artists such as Billie Holiday, Tom Waits, Serge Gainsborough or Little Jimmy Scott and atmospheres as industrial and oppresive as they are sorrowful and melancholic, Rebis is certainly an album which refuses to wallow in the complacency of its precedessor's success and takes more risks than ever before in the search for an untrodden path in the dark industrial ambient style.
2) Morpheus is also a Russian neoclassical and gothic ambient project that has released its first album, "Alkemiisto" on the Lomeanor netlabel. The full release can be downloaded for free by following this link: http://www.archive.org/download/Lnl004Morpheus-Alkemiisto2008192Kbps/Lnl004Morpheus-Alkemiisto192.zip.
Domino
Morpheus Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But last night I heard one whispering through the radio.
A voice calling from beyond the crackle and the snow.
The haunting presence, once again, of Domino.
I haven't seen her yet, but I know she's been there:
Lipstick on my cigarettes, a gentle scent of musk in the
Air,
And shadows in the corner of my eye when I turn my head.
A rustle of cloth, and laughter behind me.
The moon as a smile hanging high, dimly shining.
A photograph on the wall, as some dreary kind of warning.
A knock on the door, and there's no one there standing.
I used to say that I wasn't afraid of ghosts
But tonight in this room I'm certain that I'm not alone
And I swear to god I've heard her steps across the floor.
She's coming to claim what's hers once more.
The lyrics of Morpheus's song "Domino" speak of the haunting presence of a ghost named Domino. The singer initially states that he wasn't afraid of ghosts, but his tune changes as he experiences eerie incidents. He heard a voice whispering through the radio; it was Domino. Thereafter, he senses her presence, though he hasn't seen her yet. He discerns her lipstick on his cigarettes, smells a gentle scent of musk in the air, hears a faint tap of high heels from nowhere, and observes shadows in the corner of his eye when he turns his head. He also hears rustling of cloth, laughter behind him, a photograph on the wall, and a knock on the door when no one is there.
As the song progresses, the singer grows more and more convinced of Domino's presence. He sees the moon as a smile hanging high, dimly shining, which could be an indication of her being around. He characterizes the photograph on the wall as a "dreary kind of warning," alerting him of Domino's inevitable arrival. He finally admits that he is not alone and fears that she is coming to claim what's hers once more. The lyrics suggest that the singer may have done something that caused Domino's death or that she is just lingering around due to her undying love.
Line by Line Meaning
I used to say that I wasn't afraid of ghosts
Morpheus used to say that he wasn't afraid of ghosts.
But last night I heard one whispering through the radio.
Morpheus heard a ghost whispering through the radio last night.
A voice calling from beyond the crackle and the snow.
The voice he heard was coming from somewhere beyond the static and noise of the radio.
The haunting presence, once again, of Domino.
This voice belonged to Domino, a ghost that has haunted Morpheus before.
I haven't seen her yet, but I know she's been there:
Morpheus hasn't seen Domino yet, but he feels her presence around him.
Lipstick on my cigarettes, a gentle scent of musk in the Air,
He senses Domino's presence through the lipstick on his cigarettes and the gentle scent of musk in the air.
A faint tap of high heels that seems to come from nowhere
He hears the sound of high heels tapping faintly, which seem to come from nowhere.
And shadows in the corner of my eye when I turn my head.
He sees shadows in the corner of his eye when he turns his head, which could be Domino's presence.
A rustle of cloth, and laughter behind me.
He hears the sound of rustling cloth and laughter behind him, which could be Domino's ghostly presence.
The moon as a smile hanging high, dimly shining.
He sees the moon with a smile, hanging high and dimly shining, which could be a sign of Domino's haunting presence.
A photograph on the wall, as some dreary kind of warning.
He sees a photograph on the wall, which seems like a dreary kind of warning of impending danger or doom.
A knock on the door, and there's no one there standing.
He hears a knock on the door, but when he opens it, there's no one there standing.
But tonight in this room I'm certain that I'm not alone
Morpheus is certain that he's not alone in the room tonight.
And I swear to god I've heard her steps across the floor.
He swears to God that he hears Domino's steps across the floor.
She's coming to claim what's hers once more.
Morpheus believes that Domino is coming to look for something that belongs to her.
Contributed by Cameron A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.