Mos Generator Stream The Lantern in Full; Out Friday
Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on February 25th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Mos Generator are set to oversee a physical release of The Lantern this Friday through Argonauta Records. It’s kind of an oddball release, but these are oddball times, and melody soothes chaos, so bear with it. The Lantern, by my pitiful understanding of such things, is a remix/master of songs the Port Orchard, Washington, power trio released in 2007 on a 10″. At the time, it wasn’t The Lantern; it was Tales From the Vault. Seems pretty straightforward.
Now, where this gets confusing is that Mos Generator last year embarked on what founding guitarist/vocalist Tony Reed called ‘The Plundering of the Vaults,’ continuing a long-running pattern of adding to their massive discography by digging through old tapes, hard drives, whathaveyou. So, “tales” vs. “plundering,” but let’s assume it’s the same vaults in question. Reed also put out the religiously-themed “In the Upper Room” as a digital single last summer in varyingly mixed fashion, from the layered final version to completely instrumental. The Lantern, brings that track together with the harmonized leadoff “Dyin’ Blues,” as well as the centerpiece title-track — a 
forward boogie into a Floydian midsection en route to a showoff solo and rousing finish — the more classic-metal-tinged “Nightwolf” (sounds like Dio to me, right up to the fadeout) and the back and forth finale, “O’Cataa,” which shifts between softer harmony vocals and heavier rollout, patient and fluid all the while.
Mos Generator at the time was Reed, bassist Scooter Haslip and drummer Shawn Johnson, and if the Zdzislaw Beksinski cover art to The Lantern isn’t its own excuse for being — and it absolutely is — the release at just 22 minutes offers what might be a surprisingly relevant preview of the progressive mindset that the band has followed in more recent years. They’re due a new full-length sometime soon, but the quality and presentation of The Lantern makes it less just a fan-piece than it might otherwise be. With the basic tracks recorded mostly live over just a couple days, there’s an energy throughout that only adds to the flow between one song and the next. It won’t take up much of your day in the actual listening, but you should be prepared to have a song or two from it stuck in your head considerably longer.
Either way, as someone who didn’t hear Tales From the Vault when it came out, I’m more than happy to dig into these remixed tracks. Since the EP is premiering in full below, followed by some comment from Reed, I can only hope you feel the same.
Please enjoy:
Mos Generator, The Lantern official premiere
Tony Reed on The Lantern:
The Lantern was originally released in May of 2007 as a 10” picture disc called “Tales from the Vault”. That first pressing sold out quick and has remained unavailable on vinyl for the past 10 years at least. I’ve been wanting a re-issue of it for a few years now so it’s great to finally be getting to it. This re-issue has a new title, new mix, and new artwork. why? Because the original release was rushed out in every way. This is a chance to give it the attention it deserves on a vinyl format that that has much better sound quality than a picture disc. The new artwork, by the late Polish artist Zdzislaw Beksinski, represents the religious nature of many of the lyrics, as does the new title. The new mix retains the energy of how it was originally recorded and mixed but with a new focus and punch. Our approach to recording and songwriting for these sessions was a successful experiment and I’m stoked that the results are being let loose into the world again.
“The Lantern” will be coming out as a limited Vinyl edition only, on February 26th 2021 via Argonauta Records, the pre-sale has started at THIS LOCATION!
