MOTORPSYCHO

4.5 stars. This might be the last in that great run of albums that started with 2012's "The Death Defying Unicorn". A ten album run ending with "Ancient Astronauts" which also just makes it into my top five favourite studio albums for this band as well as taking that fifth spot for 2022. I really like how spacey this is and that's not surprising given the album's title but there's a fair amount of mellotron and lots of atmosphere on here. It does feel like an extension of the "N.O.X." suite from the previous album "The All Is The One" but not as interesting or intense when it comes to the repetitive sections on that long closer. Still, when they do get heavy it really stands out as a contrast.

Just four tracks and over 43 minutes, I like it already. The opener "The Ladder" is a great way to start this with those distant sounds including mellotron before it kicks in hard and turns uptempo. It settles with vocals and some cool guitar sounds. I really like the soundscape that is "The Flowers Of Awareness" at just over 2 minutes it's short but a trip and worth putting the headphones on for.

"Mona Lisa/ Azrael' is the third great track in a row and the longest of those at over 12 minutes. Violin, light beats create melancholy before fragile vocals without the violin takes over. Mellotron when the vocals step aside and the violin returns. More intense 4 minutes in with violin over top then heavy before 5 minutes. This is insane after 7 minutes, check out the drumming! Some relief after 9 minutes as it settles right down but then it explodes once again before a spacey calm. "Chariots Of The Sun" is the over 22 minute closer and the one that brings the "N.O.X." suite to mind the most. If this track was better I would be giving this record 5 stars but there are some extended passages here that could have been so much better.

Still, a very good album that hits the spot even more than "The All Is The One" did which I found a little inconsistent not surprisingly given it was a double album.

I have to say I am a fan of the so-called Gullvag trilogy that started with 2017's "The Tower" followed by 2019's "The Crucible" my favourite then this one "The All Is The One" from 2020 that like "The Tower" is about an 85 minute double album. Gullvag is an artist and his works grace these album covers and his work partly inspired the lyrics and music of these three records.

Of the three albums I find this one to be the most adventerous. And it includes over 42 minutes of this suite called "N.O.X." with the first half of it ending disc one and the final half starting disc two. It would have seemd more logical to have it on one disc and the rest on the other but I think they knew that this is the highlight of this recording so lets split it between the two discs. And I do find the music other than "N.O.X" to not be as consistent but it's all good of course.

Some "Death Defying Unicorn" like moments where they drift along early on the first "N.O.X" track called "Circles Around The Sun Pt. 1" but man the violin on here is insane when things turn powerful. Great sound 6 1/2 minutes in when the vocals step aside. And how about that repetitious groove on the second instalment called "Ouroboros" then ending disc one with "Ascension" a FLOYD-like piece. The highlight though might be the first track of disc 2 called "Night Of Pan" continuing with the "N.O.X" suite. I mean it starts out bringing MAGMA to mind when they get locked in a groove like here. I actually felt this way back on the album "Here Be Monsters" with that last track "Big Black Dog". "Circles Around The Sun Pt. 2" ends the suite again a powerful groove here but faster.

There's so much amazing music here along with some not so great stuff but overall a very strong album. I rank this with "Here Be Monsters" and "Ancient Astronauts" as all being so close that I have them all tied for my fifth favourite MOTORPSYCHO record right now. In the liner notes they say "Thanks to: The Psycho's Auxiliary Reine Fiske, Lars Horntveth and Ola Kvernerg for their input into this music- it wouldn't have been this without you guys, we thank you and salute your selfless musicianship as profoundly as we appreciate your friendship!". One of my favourites from 2020.

There isn't anything about this album that I don't like. This is easily a top five MOTORPSYCHO album for me and I look forward to doing that list in the future. This is also a top five for 2019's Album of the Year list. This is just over 40 minutes long and heavy. And only three tracks including the almost 21 minute self-titled closer. I have to say the new drummer who arrived with their previous album "The Tower" is very impressive. And the art work! Has to be the Pharoah and the Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea.

"Psychotzar" opens the album at almost 9 minutes and riffs hit us right away like getting rabbit-punched and vocals follow. Vocals come and go as the beating continues. Guitar solo after 2 minutes then almost mono-toned vocals before 3 1/2 minutes out of the riffage. More guitar solos then a calm after 5 1/2 minutes. They start to amp it up again after 7 minutes. Great start!

"Lux Aeterna" at almost 11 minutes has some guest reeds on it and female vocals. There's this cool section where the music swells and it's very uplifting after 2 minutes and around 4 minutes and then very late as well. Some intensity on this one as well. The guitar lights it up a few times. Some good contrasts here.

The closer is something else and a surprising nod to KING CRIMSON that pops up around 2 1/2 minutes and late before 17 minutes. Some nice upfront bass here at times. But it's the heaviness, love this stuff. Lots of calms to contrast with the powerful moments. This record took me by surprise I must say. Love at first listen. My music.

Before I even heard of this band they had already released 14 studio albums, it's like they already had a career before I became aware of them. I'll be honest there's not much I've heard prior to "Death Defying Unicorn" that I like. Just my tastes in music but man that five album run starting with that great album I just mentioned with Stale Storlokken helping out right up to "The Tower" is a great run. This doesn't include "Begynnilser" which I don't own. I took a break from buying music from 2018 until early 2022 so I missed "Kingdom Of Oblivion" from 2021 and promise to also get to "The Crucible", "The All Is The One" and "Ancient Astronauts" in chronological order unlike this one.

I just wanted to hear this one because of it being advertised as their heaviest record. It's also a long one at over 70 minutes and there's a lot of social commentary here. The liner notes tell us who is playing but not what they are playing. At the bottom of the "Thankyous" is this long word of over 50 letters no capitals, no spaces and it's kind of funny when you do add spaces and capitals as in "Bent is loud. Tomas is louder. Reine is amazing. But only Snah is god."

Magnus Ryan and Bent Saether have been together since day one of this band going through several drummers along the way. Reine Fiske does add guitar on several tracks as a guest. This is a pretty strong album and for sure 4 stars but at that length they could have pared it down and made it better. I understand though that they wanted to balance the heaviness and it's the lighter tunes that don't do a lot for me so I wish they had have kept with the original plan of making this just about all heavy.

"Lady May" with those intricate guitar melodies and multi-vocals is nice but out of place. "The Watcher" is another one but this is interesting because it is experimental with lots of atmosphere and spoken words. "Atet" is another laid back short track that I guess provides a bumper. Even the closer with the mellotron and haunting sounds for a minute but sadly changes to an underwhelming ending to this record.

Top five includes the opener "The Waning(Pt. 1&2" just the heaviness and riffs with vocals and when the vocals step aside here comes the guitar solo. This track ends really well. The title track is a top five again powerful stuff. Some social commentary here and this is both catchy and relentless although the final minute is more laid back. "The United Debased" is another top five a 9 minute tour de force. SABBATH-styled vocals and some great guitar. "At Empire's End" contrasts the heavy and light really well and at 8 1/2 minutes lots of time to do that. And finally the longest track "The Transmutation Of Cosmoctopus Lurker" at almost 11 minutes brings us to my final top five and it should have been the closer.

A four star record but for me it's not as good as the previous five I own by them.

The boys from Trondheim are back with #14--and show they're still in their imitation of the classic blues-rock of the 1960s and early 1970s.

1. "The Ozzylot (Hidden in a Girl)" (4:30) CSN&Y (harmonized vocals), The ALLMAN BROTHERS (lead guitar work), as well as the early Doobie Brothers and Eagles come to mind while listening to this one. (8.75/10)

2. "Riding the Tiger" (5:25) U2 bass and drums with some Eric Clapton-like psychedelic lead guitar playing over the top. This definitely harkens back to the 1960s blues-rock of bands like CREAM, SPIRIT, and THE DOORS. Very impressive musicianship, but not enough melody and hook to it. (8.75/10)

3. "Whole Lotta Diana" (8:57) musically, one can definitely hear the inspiration of LED ZEPPELIN behind this one, but vocally--with the harmony vocals used throughout, one can only reflect on the BYRDS and maybe a little CSN&Y and/or THE MOODY BLUES. (17.5/20)

4. "Cornucopia (...or Satan, uh... Something)" (6:24) nice CREAM-like rocker with some interesting softer vocals and great drumming. (8.75/10)

5. "Mr. Victim" (4:17) more hard-drivin' blues rock that harbors strains of LED ZEPPELIN, CARAVAN, as well as the heaviest of the MOODY BLUES. This one suffers from some muddy engineering around the vocal tracks and the guitars. (8.66667/10)

6. "The Waiting Game" (4:57) slowing it down and thinning it out with acoustic guitars, bass, and some warbling distorted synth and electric guitar "noises" in the background. The stoned JOHN LENNON-like singing voice might not be Bent, but "Snah." Transition into BEATLES-like electric guitar chord sequencd at 2:50--a motif that becomes fully developed at the song's very end when the choir vocals sing in full BEATLES/BYRDS mode. Haunting and kinda cool. (8.75/10)

7. "Child of the Future" (5:00) sounds like ANDY PARTRIDGE singing over one of his angular, semi-irritating songscapes. An odd mix of the individual tracks for the drums, bass, guitars and vocals--sounding as if the whole thing was recorded through one single omnidirectional microphone. (8.66667/10)

Total Time: 39:30

I will say, these musicians sure are firing on all cylinders (drummer Kenneth Kapstad really shines): this album contains some of the band's best arrangements and most virtuosic performances; it's too bad it suffers from a few too many "borrowed" ideas and an overall lack of melody. Plus, I don't know what happened, but the sound engineering over the course of the last three songs becomes quite muddy with too much distortion and odd mixing.

B-/four stars; a nice addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you're a retro-lover of that hard rockin' blues-rock of the late 1960s.

Motorpsycho is a very prolific, eclectic Prog band from Norway. They've been around since 1991, when they started out as more of a punkish grunge band, but then started showing more progressive rock elements by the mid-nineties, while also maintaining aspects of psychedelic and indie rock. They've released a total of 26 albums over the years (and 14 in the last 15 years, with one almost every year!). They continue to feature a wide variety of different styles, genres, and influences, with their music ranging from ambient, minimalist, atmospheric space-rock to gentle acoustic pop to punkish rock all the way to full-on metal, sometimes all on the same album, sometimes separate sounds and feel for each album. So, you never quite know what you're gonna get from Motorpsycho. For this newest album, the band surprises once again with a whole album of mostly acoustic pop and indie folk-rock. songs, and it is fantastic from start to finish! Great melodies, arrangements, and stylish flourishes throughout. And although it has been called an acoustic album, that is not really true, as although most songs do have at least some acoustic guitar in them, many of the songs build throughout to reveal much more lush and symphonic arrangements by the end. The album starts off with the breezy indie pop of Cold & Bored, followed by the ballad Sentinels, which has a Simon & Garfunkel-esque feel to it. Next is Patterns, which is dreamy, richly textured pop that builds to a rousing conclusion. But the album really takes off with the fabulous Dank State, a bouncy acoustic ditty dealing with Norwegian politics, followed by W.C.A, which is a soaring, infectious pop song. However, the highlight of the album for me (and song of the summer, if not the entire year) is the magnificent Hotel Daedelus, the one song on the album that gets the full Prog treatment, a melding of mellotron-drenched orchestration of film soundtrack bombast coupled with a beautiful laid-back 60's-styled pop melody, highlighted by a soaring, scorching guitar solo. The album then finishes on a high note with The Rapture. What a delightful album, a real surprise, and one of my very favorite of the year. Just wonderful, and such a breath of fresh air amidst all the heaviness around. Best tracks: Hotel Daedelus, Dank State, W.C.A., Loch Meaningless & the Mull of Dull, Real Again. Rating: 4.5 stars

Another year, another album from these ever-morphing chameleons of guitar-oriented rock--this one yet another celebration of the musics of old.

1. "Suite: Little Lucid Moments" (21:10) a very high-energy jam. (35.25/40): - a) "Lawned (Consciousness Causes Collapse)" - sounds like Echolyn with a little Beck mixed in there. The quiet section in the fifth minute is interesting and DOVES-like. (8.66667/10) - b) "A Hoof to the Head" - heavy bass and smashing, crashing drums with guitars set at maximum distorting with OZZIE-like vocals give this one a SABBATH-on-amphetamines feel. Again, DOVES, Some Cities-era, comes to mind. (8.75/10) - c) "Hallucifuge (Hyperrealistically Speaking...)" - pure Motorpsycho imitation 1960s psych rock jamming. Amazing play from the rhythm section with great blues-rockin' soloing over the top from the wailing lead guitar(s) at both ends and classic Motorpsycho/CSN&Y group vocal harmonies in the middle. (8.75/10) - d) "Sweet Oblivion / Perfect Sense" - the "Sweet Oblivion" part feels a bit more like an old instrumental jam from the likes of THE ALLMAN BROTHERS or but then the vocals return for a bit before everything switches into more of a slowed-down blues-rock jam--this one sounding even more like one of Dickey Betts and Duane Allman's classics. (9.125/10)

2. "Year Zero (A Damage Report)" (11:20) starts slowly, like an old-fashioned jam song, building upon one little guitar and bass riff, achieving full spectrum sound and volume by the middle of the fourth minute. I like the sound but this could get a little old. Suddenly, at 3:30, everything comes to a stop and the song becomes a simple Neil Young-like song--with a single singing voice giving this a very Neil Young-like sound and feel. This lasts until the six-minute mark when the guitars and drums ramp it up again (after the vocals have stopped). At 6:45 the vocals (now harmonized) rejoin amidst the loud soundscape but then the music suddenly cuts out again, replaced by a motif that alternates long spaces with three-strum three-chord power chords. After a few rounds of this, the music kicks back in--high octane--for a nice, long, "raunchy" guitar solo. The drumming and music and soloing are all good--especially if you love the long power jams at the end of ALLMAN BROTHERS or LYNYRD SKYNYRD songs. When the jam ends, there is a 40-second long "distant" (quiet) church organ sound taking us to the end. Okay. (17.333333/20)

3. "She Left on the Sun Ship" (14:30) opens with some angular guitar play that sounds like 1980s U2. When the vocals enter the sound enters something more akin to punk's RAMONES bordering on THE AMBITIOUS LOVERS, but then after the singing ends around 3:30 there is a definite return to that aggressive 1980s U2-ish sound. The slowed down sixth minute sees the band pairing up two guitarists to play off one another exactly like Dickey Betts and Duane Allman (and, later, Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson)--even using twin interwoven melody lines that sound as if they're lifted from (and slightly varied) from music of the aforementioned guitar gods' original songs. The minimalist interweave of guitars and bass in the ninth minute is new--turning into something more akin to 1980s U2 in the tenth. This minimalist weave then continues to the song's end as the sound is manipulated from the engineering room into something more lysergic. A pretty decent jam song! (27/30)

4. "The Alchemyst" (12:30) spacey "distant horn"-like synths feel like they're prepping us for a deleted scene from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. After 90 seconds, guitars enter sounding like something from a DOVES or BILL NELSON album, but then the bass and cymbal-crashing drums. The fourth minute introduces another motif, this one sounding more like something from a 1980s band that's trying to stick more to rock principles--like maybe U2, The Stranglers, The Replacements, or even XTC or The Police. Those great Motorpsycho harmony vocals sing throughout, really hitting the spot. At 6:50 the music pauses as if the band is getting a start on a downhill descent down a steep rollercoaster. The guitar riff providing the glue that keeps the song rolling along gets a little tedious after three minutes. Great drumming all the way to the end of the "ride." Weird song whose parts do not necessarily all feel as if they belong (or work) together. (21.75/25)

Total Time: 59:30

An album of very blues-rock grungy sounding music that may intrigue and endear many hard rock holdovers from the 1960s while impressing only those who have the patience/tolerance for heavily-distorted guitar soundscapes.

B/four stars; an excellent collection of retro-blues-rock music drawing inspiration (and sound) from the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s (with a little 2000s thrown in for good measure). Highly recommended to any prog lover whose heart is strongly planted in the best psychedelic hard rock.

Yet another stylistic shift with the ever-adventurous musical trio, their eighth studio album release--here trying to imitate many of the late 1960s' psych rock masters.

1. "The Other Fool" (5:40) excellent BEATLES-like song with key orchestral components. (9/10)

2. "Upstairs-Downstairs" (5:12) horns with lazily-strummed acoustic guitars open this one with a long (110-second) intro. When the vocals arrive (really far forward in the mix), I'm quite reminded of the music of COLIN MOULDING and ANDY PARTRIDGE (XTC). (8.875/10)

3. "Big Surprise" (3:36) cute little BEACH BOYS-like song about a breakup. Builds into full band at the one-minute mark with a little more added at the two-minute mark before slowly deconstructing for the final 45 seconds. (8.66667/10)

4. "Walkin' with J." (3:59) horns and meaty opening gives the song a bit of a HENDRIX (bass line)/DENNY LAINE-WINGS combo feel. Great, fun chorus. (8.75/10)

5. "Never Let You Out" (2:46) quirky like a late 1960s Brit psych pop song (not quite The Beatles; more like The Buggles). I very much like the instrumental palette. (8.75/10)

6. "Whip That Ghost (Song for a Bro')" (6:30) shades of future Motorpsycho: a nice instrumental jam song overtly styled after the famous Allman Brothers song "Whipping Post" with a very enjoyable ALLMAN BROTHERS-like guitar sound and style. (8.75/10)

7. "Stained Glass" (6:12) though definitely having a familiar sound and feel to it, I cannot pick up the band or song that this might be imitating (perhaps John Martyn, Richard Thompson, or more Allman Brothers), but it turns out that it accomplishes much as a lovely, delicate little rural folk rock song. (8.875/10)

8. "My Best Friend" (4:21) a nice song on the mellower side of Indie-Folk Rock that sounds kind of like a cross between Scotland's STEALERS WHEEL and THE ALLMAN BROTHERS. I like the calm, almost soporific vocal performance as well as the blues-rock piano beneath it all. (8.75/10)

9. "30/30" (7:21) this one sounds quite a bit like something RADIOHEAD might do with its very creative use of orchestral instruments and synths to create the rather-chamber/classically arranged musical tapestry. (13.375/15)

Total Time: 45:37

Great sound recording and engineering certainly help these mostly-imitative songs please the listeners' ears. Innocuous and pleasant if not presenting anything too ground-breaking.

B/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection.

Strange how this is technically the third live album Motorpsycho released since it came out after Roadwork Vol 2, but even then this would be more technically also considered to be their fourth due to Roadwork Vol 3 being performed before this one. Either way, it is another output in the wide sea of Motorpsycho releases.

This live release was recorded between 2008 and 2010, which was when Little Lucid Moments, Child of the Future, and Heavy Metal Fruit were coming out, so expect this album to be in their more golden age of jammy prog songs.

In my honest opinion there isn't quite much to talk about that probably hasn't been said already surrounding Motorpsycho live albums. It has a good, even great selection of songs in my opinion, especially Kill Devil Hills, and the songs played here are played well, but I wouldn't really call this anything stellar.

Sure there are the two big jams that expanded upon two rather shorter songs in the band's catalog, but besides that the rest of the album, while still good, doesn't quite wow or excite me.

It certainly does have that fun Motorpsycho charm, but nothing really pops out in my ears when listening to this. Certainly not a bad, nor just an ok record, but definitely not one I would call stellar. It certainly gets the job done with its long jams and very fun tracks, but I think it all doesn't quite hold a candle to their studio works, especially around this time.

A short review, yes, but I do not have much to talk about other than the fact that this album is good, but not great.

Ever since discovering Motorpsycho with 2010's Heavy Metal Fruit, I've been a big fan. Until last year I'd always assumed they were authors of sweeping prog concept albums like Unicorn but then I went back into their old discography--back to the 1990s and early 2000s--where I discovered some very cool, very melodic psychedelic pop music. so that Phanerothyme had lept to become my favorite album of theirs. So, when I heard about this album--and then heard the music--my reaction was "It's about time! I've been waiting--hoping--for this!"And then to find out that guitar hero Reine Fiske had a role in the production of this album! What a dream come true! I mean, I've LOVED his work with previous Motorpsycho albums (2013's Still Life with Eggplant, 2014's Behind the Sun, 2020's The All Is One)-- but that'd always been as a player/performer. This is different. I am so excited for this album!

1. "Cold & Bored" (4:01) The Association (8.875/10)

2. "Sentinels" (4:22) beautiful Simon & Garfunkle vocals with a wonderfully spacious, delicate instrumental passage in the middle--all over hand percussion! (9.25/10)

3. "Patterns" (5:11) the Robin Guthrie guitars in the background and heavy.thick electric bass up front and center are the highlights of this one for me. (8.875/10)

4. "Dank State" (3:18) a song that feels as if it came straight out of the folk-rock movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s (or the Nugrass movement of the late 1990s and Naughties). (8.66667/10)

5. "W.C.A." (4:15) multiple acoustic guitars strumming away while Bent sings and countrified guitar/sitar-like guitar leads beneath. The keyboards (uncredited) and/or tuned percussion are also quite good. I'm hearing what sounds like a kind of ALLMAN BROTHERS tribute/revival. (8.875/10)

6. "Real Again (Norway Shrugs and Stays at Home)" (3:03) another very sensitive song that sounds like it comes straight from a 1960s Simon & Garfunkle album. (8.75/10)

7. "Loch Meaninglessness & the Mull of Dull" (2:54) more Paul Simon vocals though never as biting or politically- oriented as Paul was known for. The subtle presence of other instruments in occasional support and/or embellishment is handled quite masterfully. There's quite a little folk/country-western/even British folk-rock feel to this music. (8.75/10)

8. "Hotel Daedalus" (7:46) Wow! I was not expecting this! James Bond theme song bombast with some wonderful Duane Allman-like guitar playing. The beautifully harmonized vocals from the opening notes are powerful, sensitive, and gorgeously melodic but the Duane Allman/(Reine Fiske) lead guitar work is the real showstopper here (though I also love the rhythm guitar work, drums, and chunky distorted BASS). The stripped down, conga-supported instrumental passage in the fourth minute is simply to DIE FOR--especially as the big thick bass and wall of orchestral strings join in. I am in tears! it's so beautiful, so emotional! This is definitely the high point of my 2023 listening (so far). And that's not even mentioning the lead guitar work! Coming out of the beautifully bombastic instrumental theme with some BREAD-like strumming guitar and groove-walking bass playing, Bent finishes it off with his beautiful vocal. Definitely a top three song for me. Maybe the best song of 2023. (It's definitely in the running!) (15/15)

9. "Scaredcrow" (1:50) an excellent comedown from the emotional output of the previous song. (Thank you!) This just shows what masters of putting together an album of music these gentlemen are. (4.5/5)

10. "The Rapture" (5:28) Another acoustic guitar strumming song over which Bent uses his Paul Simon voice and lyrics delivery approach. Bass, more stings, piano, strings, congas, even Mellotron each join in, seemingly one at a time, one line at a time, before we get to the powerful ARCADE FIRE/THE DECEMBERISTS-like chorus delivery. Cool song. The lead guitar(s) interplay with the full orchestra strings is really cool--like a classic Jimmy Webb song ("Wichita Lineman," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix"). Great ending to a great album. (8.875/10)

Total Time 42:08

With so many vocal styles and sounds on display throughout this album (yes, even the voice timbres seem to change from song to song) I can't help but marvel at A) Bent's talents and B) the engineering talents employed for this album's production.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of progressive folk rock music--something that conjures so many great sounds, songs, and bands from the 1960s and 1970s yet, as usual, has the distinctive freshness that Motorpsycho always lends to its compositions. Definitely a masterfully constructed and produced album. And check out Bent's chameleonic vocal abilities! If you do anything today, listen to "Hotel Daedelus" on Bandcamp!