TRIP

By the time Grey Mouse came back for their third album in 2013 there is no doubt they had been on quite a journey, but that is not the "trip" referred to in the title but instead is something of a rather more drug-induced nature. While the rhythm section of Alexey Chunikhin (bass) and Kirill Chunikhin (drums) were still around, there had been a significant change in both musicians and instruments. They had changed singers from male to female in Victoria Barsukova, now had guitarist Andrew Batalin and had brought in Maxim Shutikov (sitar, didjeridoo, jaw harp) who had obviously changed the sound quite dramatically. Herman Aleshin had returned as a guest (providing drone on one song) while they had also brought in a second sitar player in Andrew Bochko who plays on two.

Second track, "Villain?", seems to have everything from gentle small girl vocals to venom, experimentation to early Seventies hard rock, and a band which are obviously in control but are the only ones who actually know what is going on. They have managed to maintain some links with what the band was doing previously, even though only the rhythm section have been involved with the other albums yet have moved far more into experimental and progressive. The stoner elements are still there, but now with the knowledge that here is a band who are highly confident in what they are doing and no longer want to stay within the norms and instead are pushing boundaries. Victoria at times is so quiet that it is almost impossible to hear what she is either singing or saying, while at others she is on the crest of the wave and relishing what is going on beneath. "Ultima Thule" even brings in classic Indian stylings yet bringing in Western influences to turn it into something else. This is such an incredibly enjoyable album as it is easy to listen to yet is always changing and moving.