Release
date: October 17th 2015. Label: Poisoned Mind Records.
Format: Vinyl
Masticator
EP – Tracklisting
1.Overture
2:39
2.Execution
5:32
3.Deal
With The Devil 8:31
4.Lucifer’s
Revenge 10:47
5.The
Christkiller 10:51
6.Forever
My Queen 6:10
Band
Members:
Jordan
Knorr - Lead Vocals
Carter
Lewis - Lead Guitar, Backround Vocals, Synth
Caleb
Wyels – Percussions
Ben
Cornett - Rythmn Guitar
Evan
Warren - Bass
Review:
“Like
most stories of black magik and pacts with the devil, the story of
Merlin is dark, mysterious and unknown...”
in this way Merlin (the band) introduces themselves on their bandcamp
page, and this tale about a magical wizard dealing in a spellbinding
and excellent blend of occult, psych, space doom metal has for sure
been hidden buried deep in the underground for quite some time.
Now
the time of haze is yet to seize, as the fairly new established DIY
label Poisoned Mind Records is about to give this bleak killer the
proper vinyl release it so dearly deserves including new cover
artwork done by the ever so talented Joshua Wilkinson of Company Design. Come the 17. October the unholy murderer is unleashed on the
hesitant horde of stoners and they will surrender at his will. There
is no escaping this outing as it will be among the top of a very
strong running of vinyl releases closing out 2015. A year, that
already 3 quarters in has been swamped with one brilliant release
after another of stoner doom psych sludge releases by both
established bigger names and new and upcoming bands abound.
Christ
Killer is the debut full length album, by Kansas City, Missouri’s
devil bred occultists in Merlin, and it was released back in April
last year. The entire album is based on the concept from the
“Gladiator 2: Christ Killer” screenplay, that was never filmed,
but somehow the guys behind Merlin must have thought that it needed a
proper soundtrack nonetheless.
Well
then, on to the music. Christ Killer opens with an instrumental
‘Overture’ comprised of unpleasant synthesizer organs setting the
spirit just right for the audible exorcism that is about to take
place. Listening to this song is like entering an apparently
abandoned church ruin at dark night just to discover the execution of
a black mass of hedonistic rituals.
Upon
the next track an ‘Execution’ is about to take place and a slow
march-drum and acoustic guitars mark the unset of something truly
disturbing. The killer is embarking and a spree is about to commence:
“Devil,
please don’t take me down, all the way on down to hell. Devil, oh
please don’t take me down, down to my grave. Mama’s been crying
all day, ‘cause son is on that killing line. Mama’s been crying
for days, is the devil coming down the line.”
This
track is a shiny black pearl of groovy stoner doom that lends equal
parts from Hawkwind’s kind of spaced out rock feel, Uncle Acid’s
trippy catchiness and Black Sabbath’s austere riffs to procure a
near perfect soundtrack to your favourite deranged horror B-movie.
Besides the intro, ‘Execution’ is the shortest ‘real’ song on
the album and it wastes no time in bringing all of Merlin’s
qualities in to play; dark and sinister cinematic atmospheres, great
melodies and killer riffs. If there is a one-stop-shop to Christ
Killer and you have less than 5 minutes to get hooked, this is the
track to put on first.
Third
track, “Deal With The Dead”, starts with some seriously deep
Gregorian chant like vocals over a slow build-up of drumming before
it all kicks off into orbit with Jordan Knorr’s epic vocals soaring
over a mid-paced psych-tinged stoner rock hymn. The added element of
keyboards spread over the entirety of the track creates an overall
creepy, mind-bending atmosphere and enforces the cinematic feel. It’s
very refreshing and really sets Merlin apart from a lot of others in
the genre, and in fact it’s seldom that a band is able pack this
much ambience into the music without losing energy and heaviness.
On
‘Lucifer’s Revenge’ Merlin up’s the ante on the progressive
level and the duration of track length. Over the course of the next
10 minutes and some the listener is taken on a backbreaking journey
through Lucifer’s dark dungeons deep below mortal ground and into
subsurface doom space heaven. This here is an exploratory musical
science project where one is transported through various soundscapes
from early 70’s progressive rock a la Yes and Pink Floyd onwards
through present day space rock acts such as The Cosmic Dead. At stake
on the mind blowing sonical travelogue is space doom at the pinnacle;
it is not for the faint of heart and certainly NOT for the average
radio-station-3-minutes-middle-of-the-road-boring-Nickelback-sobbing-dull-rock
fanboy. But for whoever that dares to sit the journey through with
an open mind and letting the song unfold is multiple times rewarded.
This is the standout track on Christ Killer in my humble opinion.
Up
next is the title track that unwinds as a soundtrack to the beginning
of a never before seen Spaghetti Western, complete with bongo drums
and acoustic guitar. Clear visions of a wind-scorn and desolate
little prairie town emerges on the retina; a lone writer emerges from
the moon-lit horizon, slowly approaching. Over half way into the
track the full orchestration kicks in with some über fuzzy
steel-mounted riffs with swirling guitar leads soaring above, picking
up pace, building towards the inevitable crescendo lying ahead, only
to end in a fading of instruments and one final word: “done”.
Hell yeah I’m done, almost like a replenishing meditation session
in some Native American hut out in the desert.
The
digital version of Christ Killer includes one final track, “Forever
My Queen” that is a Pentagram cover. This song will however not be
on the vinyl album but as the LP’s come with a download code, I
find it relevant to mention this song in this context regardless and
because it’s freckin’ belter.
On
the final track, “Forever My Queen”, Merlin goes out with a bang.
The track sets ahead at a galloping speed, bursting with stonery
flames complete with Hendrixian wah-wah guitar works atop - all is in
motion and moving towards stoner nirvana. Halfway through, the tempo
lets up and slows down to give way for one of the heaviest riffs and
most balls-out grooves of the entire album, before being brought to
an almost halt leaving just enough room for a psychedelic mid-piece
full of vibrant flowering colors to breathe. Again Merlin
demonstrates how they are capable of seamlessly morph from a
rock-solid stoner monster into a psychedelic excursion into
LSD-soaked valleys. Utterly brilliant!
I
recommend everyone ready to meander off the beaten musical track and
with an appetite for slightly more demanding tunes to pick up the
vinyl glove and accept the challenge that our good Merlin has thrown
at us with Christ Killer. I for one am going to try and hunt down one
of those treasures die hard LP’s that are going up for offer on
Poisoned Mind Records BigCartel store later today.
Words
by Niels Fuzz Bartholdy
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