Morlock is a two-piece prog rock/space
rock/synthwave band out of London, England featuring Andrew Prestidge on drums
and synths with Roland Scriver on guitar (with a few guests along the way).
Their sophomore album, The Outcasts,
was released a couple of weeks ago. Let’s take a look at it, shall we?
This is an instrumental album
with some spoken words sprinkled on a couple of songs. Andy Prestidge has a
diversified background in music and it shows throughout the album. Primarily a
drummer, he plays with 40 Watt Sun, as well as doing all the reformed shows
with British band Warning. He also drummed for the NWOBHM band Angel Witch and toured
with The Oath and Lucifer, as well as recording with Electric Wizard. His own
bands, Zoltan and the Osiris Club, tend to go in a more proggy, synth-heavy
direction and have led to this musical project that is Morlock. Right off the
bat with “Vulpine Megaliths”, the tone is set for what follows and the proggy
vibes are strong. “Flower Fiends” might be my favorite track on the record with
its infectious rhythm and retro qualities. “Host Roots” reminded me at times of
Yes’s keyboardist extraordinaire Rick Wakeman’s solo output back in his heyday.
Definitely a highlight of the album. “The Prodigal” features a haunting narration,
a kind of flash fiction as an intro, it starts out strong but tends to get a
bit repetitive in the end. The short title track contains a vocoder chorus and
is full of synth goodness. “Dream Harvesters”, clocking in at over seven minutes,
is the lengthiest track here. It’s all about variations on a motif and a great bridge
of guitars, but in the end suffers a bit from its long runtime, losing some of
its momentum. “Geologic Crustaceans” brings things to a close in a quiet yet
memorable way. Its retro electronic vibe with hints of prog channels classic
Tangerine Dream and Yes. It’s a wonderful throwback to the ‘70s.
Fans of Krautrock, synthwave,
retrowave, prog rock, and electronic music in general will get a kick out of The Outcasts. It’s a dreamy and
mysterious record and fits perfectly with its Lovecraftian cover art (done by Prestidge
himself who also did Obiat’s Indian Ocean
album cover, by the way). The Morlock duo have delivered a terrific record that
amalgamates old and new seamlessly.
Morlock on Bandcamp: https://morlock1.bandcamp.com/album/the-outcasts
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