Morlock Post “Flower Fiends” Video; The Outcasts Out July 15
Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
UK experimentalist psych outfit Morlock will release The Outcasts on July 15 through Cineploit Records & Discs. Following up on the 2019 debut, Ancient Paths, the seven-tracker with the three righteous weirdo aliens on the cover boasts an expanded lineup for expanded minds, seeing project-founder Andrew Prestidge (also The Osiris Club, Warning, and others) take on a full band for a broader exploration of synthesizer-fueled krautrock, space rock and way-gone psychedelia. Mostly instrumental, there are likewise-alien vocals on the title-track, and the songs vary between them as to just how much like a band they sound. The seven-minute penultimate “Dream Harvesters” moves from its synthy start to the record’s most riff-led progression, slow and unfolding like what doom would be if it was the opposite atmospherically. ‘Mood,’ I guess.
Fair enough. The subsequent closer “Oceanic Crustaceans,” borders on New Age with its shining drone and currents of synth woven between, but is decidedly more solo-feeling either way, and part of that is not having drums or guitar. Prestidge is joined throughout by Roland Scriver (who also did the aforementioned cover art), Alasdair C. Mitchell, Misha Hering (who mixed and adds synth) and Chris Fullard (who also recorded with Stanley Gravett), and the finale is the only piece not to include
some manner of organic percussion, as the opener “Vulpine Megaliths” finds a near-motorik groove in modern heavy-prog style while “Flower Fiends” opts for more dastardly bombast in its tom work and an almost gothic keyboard movement in its second half, leading to the bounce and run of “Host Roots,” which ends in a tumult of drums and drone, and gives over to the thicker-toned “The Prodigal,” which seems to be the mirror set up so that “Dream Harvesters” can reflect back on it from way out there on side B.
Way out there regardless of format, actually. “The Outcasts” is dancey behind its effects-laced spoken parts, and the shortest track at 2:28 (though others are close), and gives over to “Dream Harvesters” and “Oceanic Crustaceans” in a manner that reminds that no matter how weird things get, there’s always room for more, at least until the LP’s full. Morlock‘s vibe is vintage sci-fi but a relevant future just the same, cinematic in its more ambient stretches but balanced effectively against the drumming to stand on its own as more than soundtrack fodder (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I wouldn’t attempt to guess if this configuration of Morlock will hold together over a longer term, if Prestidge will return to working more on his own — though he wasn’t entirely solo on Ancient Paths either — or if The Outcasts heralds a new path that Morlock will stay on for some time, but it works here and feels like there’s potential to keep toying with the balance of electric, electronic and analog elements.
You’ll find the clip for “Flower Fiends” below, followed by more from the PR wire on the release.
Enjoy:
Morlock, “Flower Fiends” official video
Flower Fiends is taken from the forthcoming album by Morlock called The Outcasts.
Available on vinyl, cd and digital from the 15th July 2022
Morlock’s ‘The Outcasts’, the sophomore album of cosmic explorations by synthesist and drummer Andrew Prestidge (Zoltan, Warning, The Osiris Club), is a deceptively accessible fusion of post-punk, electro-pop, Moog drones and Italian prog soundtracks. Blending melody and experimentation into a shifting patchwork of retro-futuristic splendour, these seemingly contradictory elements battle it out in a dream landscape of the ancient and the alien.
In contrast to 2019’s debut Morlock release, ‘Ancient Paths’, rhythm and riffage is to the fore throughout the course of these seven epic tunes. Much more a widescreen version of the band and a collaborative affair, the recording took place in London’s celebrated Holy Mountain studios in the spring of 2021. Mixed in Switzerland by Misha Hering (Memnon SA), who also co-writes and adds synthesizers to a number of tracks, the production veers between the pastoral and the urban, from the roots of the Earth to the measureless depths of outer space.
The ‘Outcasts’ concept began with Andrew developing creature designs for an imaginary graphic novel. The eventual Lovecraft-inspired illustrations are accompanied by a conceptual story-cycle originating from the mind of science fiction author Matt Thompson, all produced in a lavish and limited vinyl edition. A heavyweight pressing with grooves deep enough – just – to do the music full justice, ‘The Outcasts’ is truly an object to savour.
Composition by Prestidge, Scriver, Hering. Performed by Andrew Prestidge, Roland Scriver, Alasdair C. Mitchell, Misha Hering and Chris Fullard as ‘Morlock’. Tracked at Holy Mountain Studios, Bethnal Green, Spring 2021 by Chris Fullard and Stanley Gravett. Mixing and additional synthesizers by Misha Hering, Feb 2022 at Holy Mountain 2, Switzerland. Mastered by Michael Lawrence (Bladud Flies). Words prose by Sci- Fi /Horror author Matt Thompson based on Andrew’s Lovecraftian illustrations.
