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John Symon's Warlock — Warlock (Memories of a White Magician)
(Cherry Red Explore Rights Management ExM031, 1983/2022, 2CD)

John Symon's Warlock — Lady Macbeth
(Cherry Red Explore Rights Management, 1984/2022, CD)

by Jon Davis, Published 2023-04-04

Warlock (Memories of a White Magician) Cover artLady Macbeth Cover art

English musician Jon Symon had a very confusing career, especially to a listener approaching him now, several years after his passing. He used a variety of names over the years, and these two new reissues consolidate the naming somewhat. In 1981, he released an album called Warlock as Jon Symon “Rasputin” which was recorded with a variety of German musicians, including members of Eloy, Aera, Missus Beastly, and Cyklus. Two years later he recorded a new version of the album with different personnel, mainly members of the band Jane. It was listed as Memories of a White Magician by Jon Symon’s Warlock (unofficially, I suppose, since as far as I can tell, it was never released at the time). This version includes four of the original album’s seven tracks, plus several more, and was apparently performed live at least once. Then in 1984, there was an album called Lady Macbeth by Jon Symon’s Warlock, which featured a couple of musicians from the 1983 sessions, among others. All three of these recordings have now been reissued, with the two versions of Warlock in a 2CD set and Lady Macbeth as a single CD. So is this a case of long-neglected classics finding wider release? In short, no. The music ranges from “that’s not so bad” to “yikes, that sucks!” Other listeners may find things to like here, but I’m so distracted by the corny lyrics that I have trouble paying attention to the music. “Angel of Death” features lines like this: “Guardian of truth, come to me, destroy all evil and make me free. Angel of death, down from the skies, blow your horn and defeat all lies.” This is set to a disco beat with a simple melody and block synthesizer chords. This is a bit of a shame because the intro section of the song is one of the album’s highlights, with massed percussion and drums. The 1983 version of the song is actually worse, with less interesting percussion, electronic drums, and stock synthesizer patches, suffering the same problem as all the 1983 tracks. The general sound is a bit like a bargain-basement Survivor. Lady Macbeth continues the same trajectory, though some of the songs are a little better. Parts of “Eyes of the Witch” are suspiciously similar to the main riff from “Owner of a Lonely Heart.” But to my ear it’s just lame 80s pop-rock that never rises above mediocrity. Symon is a decent singer, but the lyrics leave much to be desired. These reissues are of historical interest (perhaps) but probably not worth the time for prog fans who don’t have a special interest in the musicians involved.

Filed under: Reissues, 2022 releases, 1983 recordings, 1984 recordings

Related artist(s): John Symon / Warlock / Rasputin

 

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