''Black Mass Lucifer'' is an
electronic instrumental album by
Mort Garson first released in
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
.
Background
The music is composed and performed entirely by Garson himself on
Moog synthesizer
The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...
s. While this record exhibits elements of
occult rock in a sometimes sinister tone, it is nonetheless in the vein of Garson's other synthesizer-based music. Black Mass Lucifer is described as employing sounds typical of modular synthesis such as "abstract electronic sound effects," "white noise bursts," "twittering scales," "percolating synthesizers," and "synthetic bells."
After Black Mass Lucifer's original 1971 release on
Uni Records (owned by
MCA
MCA may refer to:
Astronomy
* Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars
Aviation
* Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways
* Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...
), it was out of print for at least 35 years.
In 2018 the album was reissued on CD by Rubellan Remasters via
UMG
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
.
Despite its low profile, the record has its fans, with one reviewer referring to it as "freaky and intense" and Garson's "masterpiece."
Another noted that the record was created at the same time occult topics were highlighted in music (
Black Sabbath), movies (''
Rosemary's Baby'' and ''
The Exorcist''), and recent events (the
Tate murders).
Track listing
Personnel
*
Mort Garsoncomposition and realization
*Eugene Hamblinelectronic engineering
*Virginia Clarkjacket design
*Dave Williamsdirection
References
{{Mort Garson
Mort Garson albums
1971 albums