Ah, the mystery of life, the repetitive pattern of the bottomless human folly; but make no mistake here: Morito Ergo Sum belong to a growing family of fine bands no label is interested in, therefore they are forced to release and promote their own material, for which this reviewer is thankful, otherwise he would have probably never heard about this excellent doom outfit.

Morito Ergo Sum present a four-track, thirty-minutes-long EP of gloom and doom of the highest caliber. _Moonchild_ screams class from beginning to end, starting with the artwork and packaging and ending with the lyrics of this traditional or epic doom meets gothic-tinged metal album of sorts.

_Moonchild_ is easily something My Dying Bride could have recorded and played during the band's mellower periods, incorporating excellent, strong and charismatic clear male singing (sans Aaron Stainthorpe's whining tendencies), powerful and evident rhythm section, chunky and ominous belching guitars, and basic, clean, effective and surprisingly good songwriting skills -- with all the regular riffs and hooks done so well they make you forgetful of the fact originality, for the most part, is not this recording's strongest aspect.

The long, sorrowful tracks are filled with the sub-genre's familiar clichés, but these very clichés, when executed exceptionally good, complement the music and emboss it with a dark, spiritual and highly dynamic flair that allows the melodies to shine through, while keeping everything still metal to the hilt, heavy and hard-hitting.

_Moonchild_ is an EP to consider listening to, and Morito Ergo Sum is a band to remember. This recording is among the best offerings of the year 2011, equalizing gently and to some extent even ingeniously between the melodic, traditional, epic doom and the gothic, while avoiding sounding cheesy or redundant.

Excellent stuff right here, people!