METAMORPHIC

The Rushden rockers are back with their second album, following on from 2017's 'Tope's Sphere 2'. Whereas that album featured 20 "songs", this contains just seven but is still just under an hour in length (which is what happens when the last song is nearly half an hour ? which has an incredibly annoying lengthy gap to create a "hidden song". Guys, it was not clever back in the Nineties when it was somewhat de rigeur and it definitely is not in 2020). Here they are mixing psychedelic stoner desert rock, spacerock and krautrock to create a sound which will be enjoyed by those who want to imagine a band formed by the coming together of Hawkwind, Gong, Kyuss, Can and Ozric Tentacles. One of the real standouts for me is the bass playing of Derek Cotter, who often distorts his sound so much that the rest of the band can actually sit on the sounds coming out of his amp, they are that rich and thick.

It is when the band allow their more space rock influences to come through when they are at their most enjoyable, as this is when they come across more like Hawkwind than anyone else, or at least if the mighty 'wind were also using drone techniques. But overall this is a band who appear at time to be almost marking time waiting for the next idea to come through, and the result is something which is pleasant and enjoyable to listen to, whether I would make the effort to dig this out to play it yet again is another matter altogether. This really is an album where those into this style of music need to play prior to purchase and make up their own minds, but for me there is just too much repetition to make it a truly consistent release.

ORANGE CLOCKS is a group releasing their third album at the start of the year, including a live performance in 2018. They play in "space rock" with a little "dark wave" sounds at times. Their first CD took up the BOF from a 70's Klementine Uhren series and went far to lands that HAWKWIND, GONG or OZRIC TENTACLES had deciphered. Thomas the master thinker is releasing here an album in two genres, 6 short and angry tracks and a much more offbeat piece, a new sound for this group.

"Space Within" attacks with a hovering track but also bewitching and energetic, crazy rock experimentation and big wavy guitar sound, as on the heaviest tracks of Robert FRIPP. "Eye Of Psybin" continues on a simpler tune from the intro, until the beginning of the chorus, and there it becomes plaintive, poised, languid, psychedelic; the synth allows musical oppression to form while the well-emphasized drums give off a heavier sound. A bit of his 70's bathed in it comes out; the final angry guitar at this point falls into the psyche stoner. "Miles Away" begins with a calm guitar, almost melancholy on a slow tempo, the ballad with a deep but slow voice too; It's more of the order of spleen rock than space rock until the second third and a choppy, nervous flight, this one is worth the trip. "Let Me Breathe" starts off to an 80's tune, new wave pop with easy chorus and hygiaphone vocals; a bit of MONSTER MAGNET and their soaring psyche atmospheres. "Floating Temple" always on an air of the 80's, from the XTC to the first JOE JACKSON who were looking for each other, suggests an easy rock without too much consistency with final rise and a strong guitar solo without too much ardor however, the repetitive voice , mantra limit lets imagine what a longer title can give. "Ammonite" on the shortest title gives more voice, more energy (finally) when reading this album, the nervous, enlightened, fruity guitar leaves relief and saturation, by far my most beautiful song .

"Noggy Pop", strange this track as long as the 6 others put together: a song which finally gives ardor to the listening which until then was very dull. A title in drawers with a long monolithic and repetitive tirade, rather dark, but without real progressive development; a voice that flirts from time to time with that of Sid Vicious of SEX PISTOLS or PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED, ten minutes which may seem long then this white space which began to exist with the introduction of CDs, a blank of one minute until this 2nd title almost hidden in fact with a sound, the sound I expected from the beginning: musical heaviness, reverberation of the notes, psyche tune, stoner, post, psychedelic, background mantras that make the atmosphere heavy, heavy, incisive and plaintive guitar, a sound that one finds oneself listening to? religiously. The mantra becomes more and more present, mesmerizing, it feels like inside an ashram with lots of people coming to sing along. It may be repetitive, but a certain evolution is emerging, the tone of the choirs varies. Towards the last 7 minutes, in addition to this deafening mantra, the sounds of the first TANGERINE DREAM slip in, then the guitar becomes more present, heavy too, we now arrive on the first KLAUS SCHULZE, we have the impression of going back up. psychedelic sidereal time. But why haven't they developed this sound on their little nursery rhymes?

An album that surprises with the last title, too good compared to the first; an astonishing album, disturbing by the frank rupture between these two spaces; on the one hand, it lacks the energy to really take off, on the other the rocket that goes off without you by braking with both feet, because of being thrown off too. In short, to listen, let settle, then listen again, and you will perhaps find the progressive impetus in this album maze of contrasts.

It's often interesting to see acts evolve across successive albums. Even within the realm "progressive" genres, some bands don't change their sound very much. Meanwhile, others engage in wild genre-hopping on the regular. More often, you find something like you do with Orange Clocks. Their 20-song 2017 debut album was chock-full of narration and brief interludes. The music was also somewhat unfocused, drawing heavily both from early Pink Floyd and the broader world of funk.

Metamorphic, the band's second studio album, alleviates many of the issues of their debut. The sound is more consistent, and the distracting narration is gone, giving their sophomore release a more mature feel. The presence of stoner/desert rock is considerably more pronounced as well, and elements of krautrock and drone have begun to be worked in.

"Space Witch" opens the album on an ominous note. Wah-wahed guitar slowly twists upward as heavily-reverbed vocals swirl over it. The song's middle section gets a shot of adrenaline before ending on a bluesier variation of the opening riff. Following this is the more laid-back "Eye of Psybin", which sounds like a stoner rock version of a song off The Wall. And despite my frequent decrials of The Wall as a mediocre record, I mean it as a compliment in this instance.

"Miles Away" continues with David Gilmour-y guitar lines in its opening. The verses are mellow, and the vocals remind me a lot of Phideaux. The middle eight is pretty weird and sinister, but this song doesn't do much to stand out on the whole. Following this is "Let Me Breathe", a good song overall. It has an inversion of the weakness that plagues its predecessor, though. The verses are energetic and immediately draw you in, but the chorus falls flat.

The choppy vocal pattern on "Floating Temple" has the most unique feel of any song on the album up to this point, finally shaking free of obvious Pink Floyd influence and indistinct desert rock. Its second half takes on a nearly-meditative quality. Chanted vocals and steady, propulsive drums carry it forward to a slightly-cheesy-but-pretty-enjoyable guitar solo. "Ammonite", despite its grating, honky synth tone, is my favorite song on the album. The first half is instrumental, but it's the second half which really stands out. It's highly melodic and synthesizes their space and desert influences in a great way.

"Noggy Pop" closes the album. On Bandcamp, it looks a 28-minute monster, but its real runtime is only about nine-and-a-half minutes. There are some vague Spanish flavors in the opening minutes, which is another welcome bit of flair. The song takes a few minutes to get going, but by the time it reaches its climax, it's a maelstrom of astral guitar and Ozric Tentaclesque synthesizers. Once "Noggy Pop" ends, it's followed by 30 seconds of silence and then 18 minutes of drone and synth textures.

Orange Clocks made some big strides on their sophomore release. The record sounds cohesive, and the band members have made more of an effort to establish their own unique sound. However, the current prog scene is swamped with sorta-proggy stoner rock/metal acts. They've got the potential to put out something great. They also need to better synthesize the Hawkwind and Pink Floyd influences into something more distinct.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2020/03/02/album-review-orange-clocks-metamorphic/