The album was recorded in Rosenberg Studio Copenhagen 1973 Issued in Iceland only. And just 1000 copies were made. Published by Icecross Records.
Members of the band were three: Axel Einarsson(guitar and vocals), Omar Oskarsson (bass, vocals) and Asgeir Oskarsson (drums, vocals).
Road manager Ágúst Harðarson (Gústi On picture at the back of the Cover)
Recording engineer was Tommy Seebach.
Cover design: Jón Erlings
Photographs: Júlíus Agnarsson
Pressed by EMI London
Printed by Ingólfsprent Reykjavík
All tracks are self-composed and sung in English:
Side one: 1. Wandering Around 2. Solution 3. A Sad Man's Story 4. Jesus Freaks
Side two: 1. 1999 2. Scared 3. Nightmare 4. The End.
Icecross deliver great heavy and dark hard rock with some searing fuzzed leads that belongs in any respectable hard rock collectors stash! A creeper and a keeper!
Review from http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/2858
In Hinduism, “om” is the single most important syllable of existence, representing the confluence of deep sleep, dreams, and consciousness, and their mystic separation from the idea of the absolute which is beyond everyday human comprehension. There are also connections with the life cycle - the sound “om” being made of “a” which represents creation and Brahma, “u” which is Vishnu or the middle period of life, and “m” represents Shiva, whose meditation frees us from the concrete world. Om is a trinity, the exact components of which depend on which interpretation you’re using. I won’t pretend to be an expert in Hindu myth or meaning, but these basic tidbits are enough on their own to at least partially explain the sounds contained on Conference of the Birds. And while it may be mere coincidence that Om formed out of two thirds of Sleep (you could probably debate which two parts of the “om” Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius represent, but it would only make any sense if you were either a huge metalhead, a giant stoner, a Hindu scholar, or some combination of the three), the symbolic connection between the two in this context is too much to ignore. To get perhaps a bit too literal here, om is the step beyond sleep towards some kind of transcendence. Which isn’t to say that music of Om is any “deeper” or “more advanced” than that of Sleep, just that it operates on a different level with a different set of tools.
Conference of the Birds is structurally and sonically similar to its predecessor, Variations on a Theme – repeated bass licks and drum patterns that gradually evolve over the course of about 15 minutes. The second song (each song spans about 20 tracks, presumably to thwart piracy), “Flight of the Eagle,” could very easily be the fourth track on Variations both in character and in sound. Cisneros’ bass sound is dense and fuzzy and his vocals are an imposing chant musing on some mythic journey or battle occurring in ancient Egypt, while Hakius keeps a solid beat centered around his bell-like cymbal.
“At Giza,” on the other hand, represents a very different side of the group, one much closer to the concept of om than anything else they’ve done. Simply put, the music is much tauter than before, with less overall weight. The bass tone is clean, devoid of any distracting distortion, the drums are slower, more hypnotic, the vocals more an incantation than a chant, returning to words like “sentient,” “aperture,” and other archaic multisyllabics. And while the imagery is more an opium-den vision than a meditative dream, the words are there more as sounds and rhythm and quickly lose their meaning.
Whether you view it as stoner wisdom, opium hallucination, or mystic journey, this album is about transcendence. The Conference of the Birds is, amongst other things, a 12th century Sufi metaphysical parable on discovering the true nature of God, mimicking the journey of the avatar protagonist of both of Om’s songs. Farid ud-Din Attar’s poem comes to the conclusion that God is not to be found in a single place but all around, in every aspect of life and the world. So despite the fact that Om comes from the Hindu, references the Sufi, and uses the language of the Egyptian, they draw from each the same idea: that the world beyond the tactile is not that far away.
By Dan Ruccia
Lyrics to "At Giza"
Rise aviator - sun will follow. Aperture on door the wave form school. Sentient ground of the light shrine shining. Aperture on door the lind-hymn stone.
Sentient ground of the light shrine shining. Aperture of door the lind-hymn stone. The orbits arms oscillate to freedom. Params the shore of celestial sea.
Rise aviator - sun will follow. On aperture on door the wave form school. Sentient ground of the light shrine shining. Semblates the finite - to autumnate seen.
Electron sea - now set free - takes into the sky above on sentinel stream. And grant to me - a light to see - and pilgrimage to mountain of the votaric form. And lighten pon day - the solarics raise - falls upon the ziggurat electron school. And reap upon field - the host moon fade away - glides the aeronaut toward the object form.
And lighten pon day - as scintillate rays - augurate arrival of a seraphic form. From Lebanon reels - the obelisk seen - called now inverse upon the currenter-sign. The matter form wanes - the host moon fades - takes into the sky ascends the freedomward dove. The rite of fall sealed - descendant orb hails her - down to the ground of electron form.
And travel under twin suns rays - the host-moon fades - takes into the clesiast at oracle school. An epison raise - the pole star fades - wakes into availed light of aurican form. To reach a suns rays - through glowing bronze grace - leaves the lake and rises toward empyrean sun. The swans array - the crane stands veiled grace - tunnement to the omen of the object form.
And travel on toward the lighten pon day - on through a spine's gates - climbs the silken thread to cross a silvering sun. The Orphic glow seen - as aural sounds ring - climbant to throne within on spine's attuned prow. Empyrean rays - engulf the nine gates - dove ascends to freedom through a lantern filled sky. Awakens from field - availed light's salving grace heralds arrival of the solar-object form.
Reemerge to breathe - the outform seen - vivified by illumined glow through auric-clad sheath. An epison raise - the pole star fades - wakes into availed light of aurican form. To reach a suns rays - of glowing bronze grace - leaves the lake and rises toward empyrean sun. The swans array - the crane stands veiled grace - tunnement to the omen of the object form.
And lighten pon day - as scintillate rays - augurate arrival of a seraphic form. From Lebanon reels - the obelisk seen - called now inverse upon the currenter-sign. The matter form wanes - the host moon fades - takes into the sky ascends the freedomward dove. The of fall sealed - cremation now reclaims - bows toward the sun and sheds the object form.
Morly Grey is a progressive rock band that formed the late 1960s. The group recorded a single album, The Only Truth, which was recorded and released in 1972. Some discographies and music catalogs continue to list the album’s release date as 1968 or 1969.The confusion over the release date may come from the album’s serial number of 69000 (originally released through the unpublished Starshine label) and the fact that the album had a very short release period. The first single from the album was "Who Can I Say You Are". Most pressings of this single incorrectly list the album’s original title—The First Supper. In the 1980s and 1990s, the original vinyl LP pressing of the album had become somewhat of a collector’s item due to its rarity and the fact that it came with a full-size color poster.
Morly Grey is an important historical musical example of the foundations of progressive rock and demonstrates how early 1970s psychedelic-style rock influenced later, more established progressive rock bands like Yes before the genre was know as "progressive".
Musicians: Tim Roller - Composer, All guitars, backing vocals, Mark Roller - Composer, Bass, Lead vocals, Paul Cassidy - Composer, Lead vocals, drums, Bob LaNave - drums (Side II of "The Only Truth").
Review and info from progressiveworld.net
Reviewed by: Keith "Muzikman" Hannaleck, December 2002
Morly Grey had only one album, titled The Only Truth. Originally released in 1969 on the Starshine label, it was a rare collector's item for years. Now it is available as a reissued and digitally remastered LP and CD by Comet Records. The first few original releases came packaged with a poster, which is reproduced beautifully from the original artwork as a bonus to this LP.
This great rock record is one of those amazing classics that you never heard, wish you did, and then wonder why you have not. The music sounds unexpectedly advanced considering the tracks were committed to tape in1969. You will hear rock, psychedelic sounds reminiscent of The Doors and Jimi Hendrix, and jazz-rock fusion, like on the track "Our Time." For a trio, their sound was an electrifying full exciting new sound that was just starting to make its way into the consciousness of young adventurous musicians. Bands like this jump-started the beginning of many major changes in music. The title track, which is a flat out progressive rock tour de force running over 17 minutes long, brings you full circle from a rocking entrance, to a spaced out eerie middle section, then to a meaningful powerful ending. I do not want to imply that it is something that you would hear today. It sounds more like a formative free form track that develops and comes to a head like a musical eruption exploding from the core of their base sound. The group works very hard to maintain and expand this format in many of their songs.
It comes as a shock that they did not continue to record after such a successful recording session as this. One never knows what the circumstances may have been at the time though. One thing I do know, they left their ineradicable mark on early progressive rock music.
Rating: 5/5
More about The Only Truth:
Track Listing: Side One: Peace Officer (5:30) / You Came To Me (4:12) / Who Can I Say You Are (3:40) / I'm Afraid (4:32) / Our Time (6:29)
Side Two: After Me Again (3:07) / A Feeling For You (2:33) / The Only Truth (17:02)
Musicians: Tim Roller - all guitars, backing vocals Mark Roller - bass, lead vocals Paul Cassidy - guest vocals, drums (Side I) Bob LaKnave - drums, percussion, lead vocals (Side II)
Well, if you havent heard this one, its about time, it is truly amazing.
One of the most important underground hard rock band from Britain and also a very influential group , although they never managed much commercial success. Their sound in their two historical album can be likened to BLUE CHEER or STEPPENWOLF ( but with lenghty improvisations in some tracks) and is sometimes mentioned as one of the first example of Heavy Metal music , some progheads on this site even going as far as citing them as the grandfather of Prog Metal.
The Original line-up was a quartet consisting of a superb singing guitarist , A violinist sometimes playing KBs and a good rhythm section. After the second album's release , their drummer left for health reason , and HIGH TIDE did not release another album for some 18 years although they still recorded aopparently fairly regularly with an unstable permanent line-up with Tomlin, Theaker , House and Pavli coming and going almost at will, the only mainstay being Tony Hill. Starting in 88, they will release seven records in a span of three yearts , very confused affairs with tracks from all those lost years appearing on different records and no clear recording dates given. Apparently they played together until 1990 , and their latest release is yet another mixed-bag of tracks from all eras released on Black Widow label in 98, but with recording dates at last clearly mentioned .
HIGH TIDE is a highly influential underground band likely to please all Prog Metal fans looking for roots of their beloved music style.
Like it says on the top of this page ill be sharing mostly 60s-00 psych rock, doom and kraut, but its not impossible that other genres will show up, like Dub, Indie or Metal etc.
Have fun and please leave comments.
feel free to mail me for requests or other stuff @ jahanders@gmail.com
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