Review: Jonathan Morgan - The Bells Of Divinity

Those of you who heard or, even better, bought the charity compilation I put together recently (Dayz Of Purple and More Hope) would have already heard a track by Jonathan Morgan, the outstanding 'Persian Astral'. That association came about with the power of social media - I put a 'call' out via Faceache for any artists who wanteed to contribute and Jonathan replied, and I am very grateful for that. Jonathan is a psychedelic rock guitarist, vocalist & composer from Birmingham with a pretty strong line in straight up heavy psych that is well worth anybody's attention. With no physical releases (yet!) he works primarily through online resources and a full check of his Bandcamp page is very much recommended. 'The Bells Of Divinity' is a four track EP and that is four tracks of heavy duty, riff-filled psych goodness.

'Solar Communion' is a real barnstormer with which to open - full of heavy riffs that border on stoner rock....crashing in waves of fuzz accompanied by pummelling drums and vocals that are strong and impassioned. The aforementioned 'Persian Astral' is, as the title would suggest, full of eastern promise..exotic, psychedelic melodies that soften the edges of more good'n'heavy riffage...I absolutely loved this track when Jonathan originally sent it to me and, if anything, dig it even more now. 'Perseverance' is more of a slowburner..starting slow but gradually building to become another stoner psych monster. The riffs are very Sabbathesque at times and has a seventies heavy psych feel to it...but heavier. There is a nice little breakdown in the middle and when the riffs hit again they are enriched with reverbed wah-wah....bliss! 'To Swim In The Ocean Of Becoming' opens with another 'retro' blast of guitar and evolves into a fuzzy heavy psych number a la Sacri Monti, Holy Mount etc. The vocals, when they arrive, compliment the music well and fit well into the mix. The 22 or so minutes of this EP fly by in a flurry of spot on heavy psych...so good you have to play it again.

This is really good stuff...I hope I'm not doing him a disservice by saying that the fact he is relatively unknown is a mystery to me. I've heard material far weaker than this collection from 'established' acts on the current psych scene (no names, no packdrill!) and so on that basis alone he deserves some greater exposure. I suppose it is a good indication of how strong and deep the psych scene is...smaller acts knocking out real quality...some may argue there is too much stuff being released...pah! I say to this, if it is all as good as this there can never be too much! For a paltry £5 this EP can be got from his Bandcamp page here.