Mind Stealers shows a sheer side of Morphology’s sound, crystalline melodies scored and scorched with iron and steel. This latest installment is yet another excellent addition to an already enviable discography. With each track, each 12”, each live set, the pair cement their indisputable quality; long may it continue.
Some are born with it. Some are born into it. Then, there are times when these two axioms seem to merge. Morphology are a duo who seem to have electronic music running through the veins. After appearing almost a decade ago the partnership of Matti Turunen and Michael Diekmann have been at the frosted forefront of machine music. Sadly, I missed their recent appearance at Analogical Force here in Madrid, but there’s a silver lining with their recently pressed Mind Stealers hitting all good record stores now.
Four tracks make up Morphology’s second solo release on Sync 24’s Cultivated Electronics. The title piece gets the ball bearings rolling. Metallic to its core, “Mind Stealers” sounds like it was forged in a new age foundry. Beats pierce and pound, leaving jagged distortion in their wake. Notes knife their way through the hiss and rasp before a croaking vocoder voice slices. The track is through and through superbly harsh, a cold and clinical composition. Although similarly sharpened percussion is employed in “Fluid Dynamic”, the track is altogether a more mellow affair. Melodies warble, flexing and shaping their way around those tense and tight rhythm patterns. The boss takes over on the flip with Sync 24’s remix of the title work. Usually one for treading a hard line, this reinterpretation is less aggressive take on the original. Those guttural computer lyrics are minced and mangled, chopped into rigid jabbering stutters, as snares lance and spike. Yet, behind this prickly front ghost cascading icy chords as past elements of electro are melded with modern. The closer keeps those frigid lines. “Wages of Sin” casts long shadows. Spectral notes groan against the chilling rattle of chains and a rush of snares in this menacing end.
Mind Stealers shows a sheer side of Morphology’s sound, crystalline melodies scored and scorched with iron and steel. This latest installment is yet another excellent addition to an already enviable discography. With each track, each 12”, each live set, the pair cement their indisputable quality; long may it continue.
Mind Stealers is available on Cultivated Electronics. (Juno | Clone)
