Cafe Mor

After the release of Refuse; Start Fires in 2010, Mick Harris announced that he had put his earth-shaking Scorn project to bed after two decades of activity. He seemed to drop out of the music scene entirely until he reactivated his long-dormant techno alias Fret in 2017, and Scorn unexpectedly returned in 2019 with the Feather EP. Full-length Cafe Mor, sharing zero tracks with the EP, is another essential burst of diseased dub from an artist who helped pave the way for dark, damaged bass music back in the 90s. The sluggish rhythms and groaning, groggy bass eruptions of past Scorn releases are still present, but here its pushed even further into the realm of dislodged discomfort, with blearier dub effects and an even bleaker attitude. Who Are They Which One has the albums most pile-driving kick drum, yet it doesnt smother all the way, and Dulse is a bludgeoning doom-rave monster. Sleaford Mods Jason Williamson stops by for Talk Whiff, Scorns first vocal track in eons, and he sounds fittingly fed up with the repulsive state of things. Another relentless onslaught of booming low-end and shattering delay, Cafe Mor is as deadly and speaker-demolishing as anything else Scorn has done. ~ Paul Simpson