MORLOCKS : 'Praise The Iconoclast' - stunning second album by Swedish industrial rock trio out now

MORLOCKS
PRAISE THE ICONOCLAST

new album
out 06.10.23 [digital] | 24.11.23 [CD]
(Metropolis Records)

“A genuinely inventive, inspired and perfectly executed album. They have got the messaging just right, production values are sky high, guest vocalists are used to great effect, and the sound Morlocks produce on this feels genuinely exciting in a way that Industrial music hasn’t for years *****”
OUTSIDE LEFT

includes the single
DICKS IN TANKS
feat. Heljarmadr
video

“Think Rammstein and NIN having a fight with riot guns. Menacing growls and howls suggest imminent danger and, when the clamorous chorus crashes in, it’s time to go to the battlefield. Midway, all need a breather in order to put fuel in the tank and continue the supersonic attacks will all burners on. War can be fun, if Morlocks lead the troops”
TURN UP THE VOLUME

Morlocks create a bastard hybrid of heavy, guitar-based industrial rock, retrofuturism and epic symphonics. ‘Praise The Iconoclast’ sees the Swedish trio take its sound to the next level, adding guest vocal appearances from Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM, dark ambient electro queen Karin My and black metal maestro Heljarmadr of Grá/Dark Funeral.

Morlocks operate around the borderlines between the collective subconscious, paradoxical multiverses and the bad conscience of the world (as we know it). They travel either like sinister prowlers through the shadows, or like a raging bulldozer, sneaking and bolting through and between the Cold War, radioactive wastelands, the catacombs of Rome and unspeakable dimensions beyond the Unknown Kadath. This time also in space!

Golden apples serve as food for the journey and the road is lined by an epic creative chaos and a malicious love for bastard hybrids of industrial rock, retrofuturism, machines, symphonies and heresies.

Morlocks was founded under shady and classified circumstances at an uncertain point of the previous millennium in Gothenburg, Sweden by a bunch of very young, inexperienced teenage boys. They had some minor impact on the local electronic scene despite long hiatuses (sometimes years of complete silence) and a constant change of members. In 2003, they disbanded due to creative differences and the band was history for several hours.

Sole remaining founding member J.Strauss immediately teamed up with partner in crime Innocentius Rabiatus from Swedish goth veterans Dark Side Cowboys. For the first time ever there was a common idea and a mutual goal. They decided to keep the name Morlocks and there was a change in musical style, leaning more towards heavy, guitar-based industrial rock with epic symphonic influences. This formula proved to be successful and they were joined for a time by guitarist Logos and other musicians. Some years later (2011) the album ‘The Outlaw of Fives’ was released to great reviews. They played concerts around Scandinavia, not to mention a well received performance at the WGT festival in Leipzig, Germany.

They eventually met, befriended and recruited multi-talented bass player/vocalist Lamashtu a decade ago and this trio has been the core of the band ever since.
As fate would have it, they also crossed paths with Sascha Konietzko (Käpt’n K) from the legendary Hamburg-based industrial rock outfit KMFDM, who took a liking to the band’s sound and a collaboration started to grow. Morlocks provided remixes for the Käpt’n and also appeared on the KMFDM album ‘KUNST’ with the co-written song ‘The Mess You Made’, which swiftly became a fan and critical favourite.

During lockdown, Morlocks began working hard on this new album, the aptly named ‘Praise The Iconoclast’, taking their somewhat unique sound to the next level, with guest vocal appearances from Konietzko, long time friend and dark ambient electro queen Karin My, as well as drinking buddy and Black Metal maestro Heljarmadr of Grá/Dark Funeral. The latter ended up in the video of current single ‘Dicks In Tanks’, which can be seen HERE.

The album was immediately picked up for release by Metropolis Records, and there was much rejoicing. Marking the beginning of a new era, the trio are looking forward to what the future holds, that is if there is a future at all. They might know, but they won’t tell. The Goddess prevails.

PRAISE THE ICONOCLAST
TRACKLISTING
1 Nas Tretji Uvod 4:24
2 Mean World Syndrome 6:05
3 The Golden Goddess 7:27
4 Meanwhile In Space 1:57
5 I’m The Payload 4:59
6 Airwave Anomalies 2:02
7 F.U.D. 5:56
8 Instigation 5:20
9 Inhuman Genome Project 6:45
10 Not Far Into The Future 2:42
11 Fear The Watchman 4:38
12 Dicks In Tanks 7:50
13 Cold War Fusion 9:42

MORLOCKS | 2023 photo by Krichan Wihlborg