MORTLAND (Phenomena / Cloven Hoof members) – Devil May Care (2019)
“Devil May Care” is the impressive debut album of Nottingham based 5-piece MORTLAND, built around the partnership of Tom Galley’s Phenomena vocalist Matt Moreton and ex Cloven Hoof guitarist Andy Shortland, a traditional Hard Rock collection of songs capturing the ’80s British magic from the genre.
The pair met when were recruited to perform on Cloven Hoof’s ‘Eye Of The Sun’ album in 2006, as well as contributing to the Tom Galley’s ‘Phenomena: PsychoFantasy’ record, which saw Shortland contribute to the songwriting and guitar playing, and Moreton holding his own as vocalist alongside big names such as Keith Murrell, Glenn Hughes and Lee Small.
Keen to have their own outlet, Moreton & Shortland wrote and recorded an album called ‘Dying Days’ under the moniker of Carbon Soul, which led to the genesis of Mortland. Augmented by drummer Jordan Spencer from Evil Scarecrow, producer/guitarist Dave Buckley and bassist Nick Watson, the quintet began playing covers before trying their hand at original material.
Stylistically, the band play traditional Hard Rock, with Shortland’s abrasive riffs marrying perfectly with Moreton’s snarl, lyrically dealing with themes of environmentalism, religion, the effects of modern technology on society, as well as a wry look at our modern political leaders, all wrapped up in a package of big melodies and bigger choruses.
‘Light The Fuse’ kicks things off with a real statement of intent, leading into the pounding ‘Too Close To The Sun’. Early on the group establish the knack of weaving in hooks among the attitude fueled material.
‘Dirty Egos’ slows things down and is punctuated by an effective use of keyboards that lead to the anthemic chorus, while the relentless ‘Monster’ is another huge groovy cut.
A real highlight for me is ‘God In The Machine’ which neatly references previous tracks under the guise of tuning a radio before erupting into a great rocker that boasts my favourite chorus on the record.
‘Another Wasted Lifetime’ employs a cinematic intro and is very strong lyrically before the band revisit the title track from Carbon Soul’s album. ‘Dying Days’ benefits greatly from the new treatment and fits very well with the new material.
‘One Last Chance’ is the closest the band get to a ballad, which shows a different side to Moreton’s voice but the bulk of material here is driving Hard Rock, like the blistering ‘The Only One’.
Ending with the epic, sweeping ‘Hope Returns’ which has a huge chorus, Mortland end their impressive first album on a high.
Bearing in mind Mortland themselves state the material was inspired by divisive themes such as politics, religion and environmentalism, they could easily have fallen into the trap of sounding pretentious or preachy, but they manage to instead simply provide more ambiguous, thought provoking wordplay, wrapped up in powerhouse compositions.
All that is driving by melodies all over, and a proper production sound akin the glory days of British Hard Rock still feeling current and punchy.
A welcomed surprise, Mortland’s debut album rocks in a big way.
Highly Recommended
01 – Light The Fuse
02 – Too Close To The Sun
03 – Dirty Egos
04 – Monster
05 – God In The Machine
06 – Another Wasted Lifetime
07 – Dying Days
08 – One Last Chance
09 – The Only One
10 – Hope Returns
Matt Moreton – Vocals
Andy Shortland – Lead Guitars
Jordan Spencer – Drums
Nick Watson – Bass
Dave Buckley – Guitars
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www.amazon.co.uk/Devil-May-Care-Explicit-MORTLAND/dp/B07YQRBLJ4
