morlock, klaus

Psychedelic Electronic Journey (U.S.A.)

Klaus Morlock who originally worked under the name "Harold Legg", is an English born German Composer, Musical Storyteller and a real Electronic Music Wizard, who lives currently in Los Angeles.

His Music Career starts in young years as Piano Player for Bars and also for the Hilton Hotel. In the early Seventies, after some Band Experiences and a few Solo Recordings, he got the Chance to do the first Movie Score, what he finished so Great that he was commissioned to do more, over the years . At the time he is primarily known for his Electronic based Compositions, for his Solo Works and his Soundtracks for various 1970s European Horror Movies, of which several of them reached the Cult status and be Loved til today, not at least because of the Phantastic, Surrealistic, Phantasmagorian Atmospheric Soundtracks. Klaus Morlock is also known because of the Folk Horror Revival, the never dying interest of the people in the Real and Psychedelic Horror Genre, the Hauntology Music Movement, the Occult Psychedelia and because of the Collaboration with Villa 9 Studio.

Some of the Soundtracks, like "The Goatman" a Cult Horror Classic and Folk Horror Film Legend from 1973 by Simon Grundig, or "Mary" from 1977, recorded with Simon Magus, under the name The Unseen.

With The Unseen, Klaus Morlock also make Concept Albums like "The Blackheath Tapes", which is recorded 1979. Back in the days, Klaus and Simon decided to get together at Magus's Blackheath Studios, a converted Farmhouse in Somerset. Both of whom were recovering from nervous breakdowns, intended to write and record a Concept Album on the subject of Alien Abduction, a Phenomenon of which Magus claimed to have First-Hand Experience. Morlock swiftly became disenchanted with the Idea, and insisted that the Concept be changed to the role of Aural Hallucination in Cultic Ritual. Magus refused, and as such, no consensus was reached. But the pair managed to record a Great Deal of Music, the surviving elements of which are presented here on Aumega Project. The Blackheath Studios burned to the ground one day after ending the Record Sessions. Some of the Soundtracks were made for the British "Villa 9 Studio", named after the Studio lokation, a abondend Bangour Mental Hospital. Villa 9 produced some really Great Horror Movies for The Cinema and also Movies and TV Shows for British Television, most of them were only once Broadcasted, because there were too Disturbing and Weird. Tales of On-Set Hauntings, Satanic Elements within the Production Crew, Hexes Places on Actors and Directors, Wild Hallucinogenic Orgies, disappearances and Demonic Possessions were spoken of, and few people in the Media wished to be tainted with the "Curse of Villa 9". This all happend during the Swining London Scene. The Studio was very Creativ, unusual environment for Cast and Crew alike. A lot of "Far Out" Cinematography was employed, Filters and Psychedelic Lightning were used throughout Filming. The Music in all Villa 9 productions played a huge part in making the Movies as Dark and Disturbing as possible. The Studio sadly burned in 1985, supposedly Cursed by a Coven of Witches known as "The Cullen". Befor The Unseen, Magus played amongst other things, in the British Psychedelic Band "The Holy See", with Psychedelic Spaced Out Wizard Cat Jay Darlington from "Magic Bus" and Will Campbell,

which playes also in the Studio Project Bloodstone, together with Klaus Morlock.

But Klaus Morlock also worked constantly alone, for Movies like the 1977 Erotic Horror "The Three Faces of Janice", by Italian director Claudio Ascerbi, or for Angelo Ascerbi's sadly abandoned Occult Horror "Bethany's Cradle" from 1979, one of the true “Holy Grail” Soundtracks of Seventies Folk Horror.

The Film was abandoned but the Score was released on Vinyl in 1979, years later the LP was Re-released on Vinyl, CD and MC and in 2015, fortunately also on Aumega Project.

The Film tells the story of Bethany, a virgin who becomes pregnant after involved with a Mysterious Cult who do strange Occult Rituals near Lake Windermere in the English Lake District, the Movie contains some of the most Evocative Scenes in the history of Folk Horror Cinema. Klaus Morlock who lived in Germany

at that time, was commissioned to write the Soundtrack. Working from the first draft of Baresi’s screenplay, Morlock recorded the majority of the score in his Home Studio, a converted barn on the outskirts of Cologne.

He also recorded albums without Cinamatic background, for non-existent, imaginary Movies like one of his Masterpieces "The Bridmore Lodge Tapes" which he recorded between 1976/77. Led Zeppelins Jimmy Page himself loaned him some of the Instruments for the Album, some rumours say they know each other from the English Occult Scene or an Occult Circle, whatever the LP is great & the Reviews reads fantastic:

". . .The Tapes are a Much Talked About but Rare and often thought lost musical venture by English born German composer Klaus Morlock. A known Occultist, Morlock recorded his Opus in the Abandoned Residence of the title where it was said that a Horrific series of events led to the previous occupants’ child dying in a Mysterious and Unexplained manner. Curiously this event seems to have bled through into the titles of the pieces on the Album; Morlock’s supposed solitude during the recording undoubtedly also influencing this Strange and unsettling Album. . . this is both one of the most affecting and unusual albums you will ever hear.", ". . .an incredible musical tale, an album so unlike anything else in its intensity and creativity that it gets under your skin and raises the hairs on your arms and neck. You must hear this album, but not alone and not with the lights off. . .",

Klaus Morlocks creates a very Intensive and Hypnotic Experimental Musical Adventure, this Psychedelic Electronic Journeys Experience goes from 70's Electronica, with Obscure, Hallucinatic Soundscapes filled with 70s Analogue Sythesizers, old Organs, Mellotron, Keyboards, Reversed Guitars, Strange Sounds, Trippy Effects, Field Recordings, Voices and more, to a Progressive, Pagan Ritual sounding Horror Krautfolk, to beautiful Lullabys. Occasionally the sound takes some Reference, to the Work of several of his Genre Colleagues like John Carpenter, Goblin, Ennio Morricone, Fabio Frizzi, Vangelis or Acanthus, but always with his own brandmarkes.

Klaus Morlocks Soundtracks are Essential, it ably sits amongst the revered Soundtracks of other 70s Cult Horror Films that you should already have on your shelf by the likes of Paul Giovanni, Luboš Fišer and Marc Wilkinson.

Since 2015 Klaus Morlock is a member of the Aumega Project, until now he released his Solo Albums, a few Soundtracks and also several of his Works with The Unseen and Bloodstone.

Bloodstone is a Studio Project with Klaus Morlock on keyboards, drums and guitar, the Project is an excuse to indulge their Obsessions with Sixties & Seventies British and European Satanic Horror Movies.

He released Older Recordings like "Old Negatives" or his 1974 recorded "Penumbra" which is is a Musical Interpretation of a Strange Events, around Salisbury, Wiltshire, where Seven Young Woman Disappeared and left Letters, in which they stating that they had “attained the Highest State of Spiritual Bliss”, and that her “Dreams” had been “Harvested” by a “Celestial Organization” called Penumbra.

The Author of the "Unseen Horror" Blog writes, that Rumours said, Klaus Morlock is also a member of the Penumbra Organization.

But he also released New Recordings, like the "beautifully melancholic sophomore album" (The Active Listener) "The Child Garden" or "Bridgecastle Road" from 2018, an EP which is inspired by a Mystical Area in Scotland. This area has yielded many Mystical Visions and been synonymous with countless Ghostly Encounters and narratives over the years. By far the most intriguing of these is the Legend of the Bridgecastle Witch. Derived from a 17th Century account of a murdered servant girl (within the walls of the Bridge Castle), the Story came to prominence in 1964 when a local woman called Margaret Saunders disappeared.