Mort Garson "Black Mass, Lucifer" 1971

What a shame this album has virtually vanished from the radar screen. As far as I know, it has never been released on CD, and is a hard to find item on e-bay and elsewhere. The album was released in 1971, and features 10 instrumental compositions by Mort Garson, each around 3 1/2 mins or less, that are virtually all created on the Moog, with some processed percussion and voices added in.
It was creepy and beautiful in it's day, and to my ears, still holds up well today. The songs are well composed and hold your interest throughout, unlike some other meandering electronic albums from the same era. Another 'cool' aspect of this LP was one of the song tracks had a pronounced pattern visible both when viewed in your hand, but especially as it spun on the turntable. I never knew if that was due to the music or if it was cut that way somehow at the factory.
Some may be put off by the Black Mass concept, but electronic music back then was supposed to sound "weird", and this deviated from the Outer Space concepts so prevalent then. No harm will come to anyone who listens to this, I promise. If you like Tonto's Expanding Head Band, early Klaus Schultz or early Tangerine Dream, you owe it to yourself to seek this out. - By D. K. Hughes
This bizarre collection of Moog compositions is credited to a band/artist named Lucifer (or is it "Black Mass?"), but the man behind the machine is better known by his more ordinary given name of Mort Garson. Along with scoring films, producing easy listening records, and co-writing the hit tune "Our Day Will Come," Garson released several electronic music LPs with themes like the Zodiac, the Wizard of Oz, and plant growth stimulation. Black Mass/Lucifer (the cover art is ambiguous as to title) is Garson's exploration of the dark arts, an all-instrumental soundtrack for a horror film that never existed. Garson conjures up a sinister, minor-key atmosphere on tracks with titles like "Incubus," "Witch Trial," and "The Evil Eye" often achieving a tone similar to the scores that Italian horror-rock band Goblin would record for Dario Argento films later in the decade. The technology available to Garson in 1971 was still being developed, and the record occasionally sounds dated, particularly when some very corny synthetic drums ruin the mood. There's some evocative music on Black Mass/Lucifer, to be sure, but ultimately it's just not as wild of a recording as legend has painted, perfectly rendered for a psychedelic Halloween party but hardly strong enough to raise evil spirits on its own. Garson's Wozard of Iz album is a freakier Moog ride, a kaleidoscopic retelling of the L. Frank Baum tale. - by Fred Beldin
trax:
01 Solomon's Ring 02 The Ride Of Aida (Voodoo) 03 Incubus 04 Black Mass 05 The Evil Eye 06 Exorcism 07 The Philosopher's Stone 08 Voices Of The Dead (Medium) 09 Witch Trial 10 ESP