HEAVY METAL FRUIT

Motorpsycho have really been working hard for the last couple of years! Releasing three albums in under two years fully loaded with the mix of Experimental Psychedelic Hard Rock that the band have been moving towards since the Experimental Alternative Rock days of Trust Us. There is no denying that Heavy Metal Fruit has stirred up quite a few emotions ever since its early 2010 release date and so I felt obligated to revisit this old friend of a band just to see what the fuss was all about.

It's true that I haven't heard much from Motorpsycho before or after their 2 CD 1998-album Trust Us, with an exception of an occasional sample track here and there, and so I honestly didn't know what to expect from the new sound that the band have become so famous for at this stage of their career. The album begins with a prolonged intro of Starhammer that after almost 1,5 minutes of silence finally transitions into a Stoner Rock tune. This is of course not everything that Motorpsycho has to offer us over the course of this almost 13 minute long compositions and once the heavy guitar sound settles down we get into a very pleasant experimental jam section that lasts until the last minutes where the band finally gets back to Stoner Rock. Not really what I was expecting but that's definitely not a bad thing!

X-3 (Knuckelheads In Space) / The Getaway Special is a much simpler upbeat rock tune that isn't all that exciting from a progressive point of things. Still, the band manages to change their direction halfway through the composition by adding on another pleasant experimental jam session with smooth trumpet work and playful guitar sounds. The Bomb-Proof Roll And Beyond (for Arnie Hassle) is another surprise of a sorts that reminds me more of the band's '90s sound than what they were offering on Heavy Metal Fruit until now. That is not to say that Motorpsycho have been all that consistent up to this point either. The track becomes pretty psychedelic towards the end with a lot of noise targeted straight at the listener.

Close Your Eyes caught me completely off guard at first because I actually had to double check that my player hadn't skipped to some obscure Radiohead ballad! This was of course not the case, instead Motorpsycho have once again shown just how versatile they have become. W. B. A. T. is probably the closest that this album comes to sounding progressive even though the composition does fall in a much more familiar rock territory towards its second part. Gullible's Travails (pt I - IV) was a bit of a disappointment for me since it wasn't more than just a nice prolonged jam and not the fleshed out six-parter epic I was expecting from this 20+ minute composition.

It seems that the direction Motorpsycho have been going for lately has given them quite a few new followers. Personally I prefer almost everything I've heard on Trust Us over this new material since nothing here truly captures my imagination. Still, there's no denying that the band have created something quite unique with this release and so no less than a good, but non-essential rating on my part is in order here.

**** star songs: Starhammer (12:57) The Bomb-Proof Roll And Beyond (for Arnie Hassle) (6:02) Close Your Eyes (3:40) W. B. A. T. (9:44) Gullible's Travails (pt I - IV) (20:42)

*** star songs: X-3 (Knuckelheads In Space) / The Getaway Special (9:04)