BEHIND THE SUN

Fantastic!

This exceptional trio have done it again, and for the second time in a row they have been joined by the Swedish psych-rock God Reine Fiske on guitars and mellotron. They are also joined by Ole Henrik Moe(saw and viola) and Kari Rønnekleiv(violin) on some of the tracks.

As expected, the music on this disc is really varied. They do in one way carry on with the track they have been on since the arrival of Kenneth Kapstad, but this time around the focus on songs seems to have been stronger than on the last couple of albums. The highlights for me are the opening track Cloudwalker, the instrumental Kvæstor (incl. Where Greyhounds Dare) and the epic Hell, part 4-6.

Cloudwalker has an amazingly cool main riff, and carries an overall good feeling. Kvæstor is a killer instrumental with a folk influenced main riff. The drive of this track is breathtaking. The robotic strings in the background also helps lift the song to new heights. Included in this track is also a homage to the Iron Maiden track, Where Eagles Dare, and it fits really nice into the context of the song.

The main highlight for me is without a doubt the epic Hell, part 4-6. The middle part with its acoustic guitars and mellotron is really beautiful, and the composition as a whole is flawless. You will get everything you want from an epic, and the finale of the song, with its guitar solo, will probably raise goosebumps on your arm.

In my ears, this album is a masterpiece. I can't find anything to complain about. You will get rockers, pop songs, jazz influences and pastoral acoustic songs. This is probably the most mellotron laden album they have made so far, and the production is perfect. I know there have been a very overstated use of adjectives in this review, but I will absolutely encourage all of you to check out this album.

11 months since the last album, and Motorpsycho have no intention of resting on their laurels.

Behind The Sun can be described as a continuation of Still Life With Eggplant, only with a bigger focus on songwriting and arrangements. Behind The Sun contains 9 songs in 60 mins, and has a lot of stylistic diversity (maybe a little too much, actually)

The record starts off in awesome fashion with Cloudwalker and Ghost. The former having a really great lead riff accompanied by subtle mellotron. There's also an awesome bridge in there and a nice instrumental buildup to the last chorus. Ghost is a very mellow pastoral thingy, where a mellotron/string arrangement carry the song along with a shivery vocal delivery from Bent Sæther.

Individually, On A Plate is a good track. But its straightforward cock-rockish sound doesn't really fit this album, IMO. The Promise is an uptempo rocker, but it's way more catchy, complex and with a purpose. Great guitar-solo too. Kvæstor (incl. Where Greyhounds Dare) is an instrumental jam. It reminds me a bit of Whip That Ghost from Let Them Eat Cake (2000), but this one's way heavier and more complex (even the subtle Iron Maiden reference makes sense). The robotic strings in this one adds a nice touch.

Hell, Part 4-6 is the longest one (12 mins) on this album. Starts off with Part 4: Traitor which is kinda mellow and sets the main theme for this track. Part 5: The Tapestry is extremely atmospheric and consists of a mellotron/acoustic guitar fog. Then a beautiful melody rises from the fog before we return to the Traitor part briefly. Then Part 6: Swiss Cheese Mountain starts with a heavy, slightly Eastern-sounding jam that culminates in Prog Heaven. Great track!

Then another ballad, Entropy. This one is simply stunning! Hans Magnus Ryan takes lead vocals on this one (blistering guitar-solo as well), and Fiske really makes his presence felt here with some great guitar lines near the end. Beautiful melody, beautiful arrangement, and my personal favorite on here!

The Magic & The Wonder (A Love Theme) is a bit similar to The Promise in being an uptempo rocker. But this one has some great melodic guitar themes in it as well. Unfortunately for me, the album ends in chaotic fashion with Hell, Part 7: Victim Of Rock. This one is quite over the top, coupling the Hallucifuge-riff from Little Lucid Moments with the Hell, part 1-3 from the Eggplant. Then it turns really psychedelic as some kind of flanger- effect is thrown on, and everything/everyone sounds as if they're playing in a snowstorm. It has potential to grow (it's already started!), but I think of it as a subpar way to end this album.

So I give this one 4 stars, but it's actually closer to approx. 4,4 or something. I did give 4 stars to the previous one as well, but that one's closer to like 3,7 or 3,8. A couple minor misfires robs the top rating, but this is still a fantastic album with lots of progressive elements that could satisfy a lot of people on here. Recommended listening!

Never listened before to Motorpyscho: a total surprise for me, suggested by a streaming media (ehm...) and got hooked to this record immediately. Such a variety, from ballads (like "Ghost", in a Wilco-flavor style; or the really-superbe "Entropy") to rockers like "On a plate" and "The Promise", to more progressive numbers (all the other ones!?). 1 hour of music that's flying away in a whisper, with great ideas. Highly enthralling are "Cloudwalker" that reminds a little of Yes in the choruses,"The "Kvaestor" is astoundingly magnetic,with some craziness developed on a underlying loop, but also with great riffs. The minisuite "Hell 4-6" is also remarkable, and build similarly on accumulation to the end part, where up to 3/4 theres a variety of subtle and gentle nice guitars, flute and mellotron. "The magic & the Wonder" is more eclectic, though short in duration. The final "Hell" erupts with rock & fusion (?) in a free-form, improvised like - a closure that you couldn't expect from the previous pieces. As said in the beginning, a great album, no filler - all good and great. Most likely one of the top-3 2014 release (I'm curious to see which one could be at least at the same level...). Rating: 9/10

"Behind The Sun" is the 16th full-length studio album by Norwegian psychadelic rock/hard rock act Motorpsycho. The album was released through Stickman Records/Rune Grammofon in March 2014. "Behind The Sun" is available on CD, vinyl and as digital download. The CD and digital download versions of the album feature nine tracks, while the vinyl version features two instrumental bonus tracks. As an interesting gimmick the two vinyl bonus tracks are cut in parallel, which results in the needle randomly playing one of the two tracks, providing the listener with a suprise opening to the album upon each listen (the two tracks are placed as the first track(s) on side 1).

It hasn't been much more than a year since the release of "Still Life With Eggplant (2013)", but Motorpsycho have as always kept busy and have among other things toured Europe. Prolific Swedish musician Reine Fiske (Landberk, Paatos, Elephant9...etc.) once again helps out on electric and acoustic guitars and mellotron. The latter instrument is heard on almost every track on the album. Other than the more regular rock instrumentation of guitars, bass and drums (and the mentioned mellotron), which are for the most part played by the three-piece band, Motorpsycho are also helped out by Thomas Henriksen who plays piano (on "The Magic & The Wonder"), Ole Henrik Moe who plays saw (on "Cloudwalker (A Darker Blue)") and viola (on "Ghost" and "Kv'stor") and Kari R'nnekleiv who plays violin (on "Ghost").

Stylistically the music on "Behind The Sun" pretty much continue down the same psychadelic rock/hard rock path which "Still Life With Eggplant (2013)" also followed. To an extent where I'll dare call them sibling albums. The band are as always incredibly well playing and "Behind The Sun" is packed in a powerful, organic and warm sound production, which suits the music perfectly. "Behind The Sun" are among the most consistently great albums yet by Motorpsycho. There are zero filler material and no sections or tracks that don't feel like they belong. The album also features a great overall flow and even though it's around an hour long, it never feels like it overstays it's welcome. In fact I feel a strong urge to put it on again right after the busy jamming track "Hell, Pt. 7: Victim of Rock" closes the album.

While the tracks on the album are both consistent in quality and style, Motorpsycho are not a one-trick pony by any means. The core of their music might be rooted in psychadelic rock/hard rock of the late sixties/early seventies, and references to artists like (early seventies) Pink Floyd, Wishbone Ash (in their early seventies prime), Jefferson Airplane and Cream are valid enough, but they successfully incorporate stylistic elements from their influences to their music to create their own unique style, even adding a progressive element now and again. Hard rocking riffs, acoustic sections, psychadelic effects, mellow vocals and harmonies and the occasional mellotron wave are some of the elements that make up the band's sound on "Behind The Sun". Highlights include the 12:24 minutes long "Hell, Pt. 4-6: Traitor / The Tapestry / Swiss Cheese Mountain", the opening track "Cloudwalker (A Darker Blue)", the mellow "Ghost" and the above mentioned busy jamming track "Hell, Pt. 7: Victim of Rock", but as mentioned "Behind The Sun" is a very strong release throughout. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

I have not heard so many of this years releases yet, I use to prefer old music but today I grabbed this Norwegian band "Motorpsycho's nineteenth studio album "Behind the sun" from 2014 and do you know I really liked it. The record is filled with perfection and a big knowledge in music. The record is an hou long and the cover is quite artistic with faces and coloured items and black lightenings.

There are nine songs are they are performed by Bent Saether who sings and plays bass, percussion, mellotron, organ and guitars, Hans Magnus Ryan who plays guitar and sings and Kenneth Kapstad who sings. Four guests are also present here: Reine Fiske, Ole Henrik Moe, Kari Rönnekleiv and Thomas Henriksen.

The music of Motorpsycho is very powerful and heavy but still very elegant and filled with interesting musical events. I find the record even too with perhaps just one song taht I am not very found of, the rest I very appeling. The sound is not very unlike the Swedish band Beardfish's even if this is harder and more instrumental. "Cloudwalker" is a great start with a text sung with a good English accent and a vivid and joyfull spirit(8/10). "The Magic & the wodner" (8/10)is one of my favourites where the guitar reminds me of the guitar in Caravan's music. The long "Hell, part 4-6: Traitor/The Tapestry/Swiss Cheese Mountain" is also a very good construction of tuens with a lot of instrumental gems(8/10). "The promise" is a fine example of tough intriguing hard rock(8/10). Other songs are calmer or experiment with drum solos.

Over all are my impressions of this album very good and I recommend you to hear it too. My favourite is "The Magic and the Wonder" but the whole album is worth listening to. There are no doubts this is a progressive band either, they have made their own style and they do it well!

. . . In my not so humble opinion . . .

This album is not what I was expecting in the slightest.

Ok, so I'll admit it, I stereotyped these guys based on their name, 'Motorpsycho, sounds like some death metal doom outfit that makes me long for Mike Portnoy's growls'. I was wrong, horribly wrong. This is currently my front runner for the album of the year. Seriously, let that sink in, when a Neo Guy is giving serious consideration to picking an eclectic album over IQ's best release in a decade, you know that there's something special about this album. For me, this album transcends genre tendencies, which is huge.

This album is stylistically variable, but has a strong seventies, jam band feel with vocals reminiscent of Crosby, Stills and Nash mixed in with random walls of chaos and drum crashes. In general, guitar player Snah Ryan does a fantastic job balancing noodling with shredding (suddenly I have a desire for haluski). Drummer Kenneth Kapstad matches Ryan's intensity often shredding the skins in time with Ryan's guitar. Bass player Bent Saether however makes this band stand out. As I mentioned before, Motorpsycho has a sense of a seventies jam band, and a lot of this comes from Saether's rolling bass lines. So often Ryan and Kapstad will go into a chaotic frenzy but Saether holds the fort down with an almost light hearted back track.

"Cloudwalker" is a great intro for the album, it starts with a gentle build up but once the song proper kicks in we get a good idea of what is to come, the CSN vocals and Saether's rolling bass keeping time. "Ghost" is a down tempo ballad that kind of reminds me of old Crimson. "On a Plate" could have come off of a Beardfish album, the song gives us the first real chance to hear Ryan's excellent solo work. "The Promise" continues with the Beardfish feel, though this is the first real glimpse of the chaos that this band can pull off.

"Kvaestor" was the song that initially grabbed my attention for this album. I listen to a lot of prog as background music to my work day, every once in a while, something is really good and grabs my attention enough to shift my focus away from work for long enough to register it as something worthy of further exploration. This was the song that did it for me. The main part of this song exemplifies the seventies jam feel, Saether's groove sets the tone while Ryan noodles along with a feel reminiscent of "Jessica" by The Allman Brothers. During the jam, don't miss Kapstad's intricate drumming behind the stringed instruments. His drumming is almost as intrinsic to the melody as the other two.

While Kvaestor made me give the album a critical listen, "Hell, Part 4-6"hooked me as a huge fan. Part 4 is a cool, rolling indie rock sounding cry over lost love with a lot of cool guitar licks intertwining again with Saether's bass. Part 5 is a soft, transitional piece that you could expect to hear on Selling England, full of acoustic guitars, Melotron and flute sounding melodies.

But then Part 6 hits! The wall of sound at the 8:10 mark gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. This is easily my favorite bit of music that I've heard in a long time. It's almost a very heavy sounding Steve Hackett a-la "Valley of the Kings". Ryan's soaring guitar over the heavy groove laid down by Saether and Kapstad is sublime and needs to be heard.

"Entropy" is ironically pastoral, another nice ballad with a great solo by Snah Ryan. The last two songs get more and more chaotic as the album crashes to an end. "The Magic & The Wonder" alternates moments of high intensity rock with moments of insane chaos. Kenneth Kapstad is not to be missed here. "Hell, Part 7" is just plain insanity. I would call it a seven minute guitar solo and a seven minute drum solo, played at the same time. Please don't take that to mean Saether isn't soloing on the bass at the same time, he's just slightly more likely to repeat a note if it works. To understand this song, you need to imagine an entire band playing sixteenth notes . . . for seven minutes . . . without stop. I can only imagine the entire band collapsing into a heap of exhaustion and shredded fingers after playing this live. Here's hoping that they can convince Icy Hot to be a sponsor of any tour that they do.

To sum, this is a fantastic album, amazing musicianship, varied styles and despite that, a coherent feel throughout the album. This is probably my favorite discovery of the year and easily gets five stars from me.

My fourth foray into Motorpsycho territory and, so far, my favorite. The excellent harmonized vocals present on almost all the songs are awesome--reminiscent of several of the best rock bands of the early 1970s. The foundational instrumental performances are as solid as ever but they are now enhanced, expanded upon by lots of mellotron and, of course, the always welcome contributions of guitar wizard Reine Fiske.

1. "Cloudwalker (A Darker Blue)" (6:06) is a good mid-tempo rocker with great bass, good harmonized vocals, and some catchy guitar riffing but lacks something to pull me in deeply. (8/10)

2. "Ghost" (6:38) opens with a bit of a Country/Western or Southern Rock like SWANS sound, with an unusually delicate vocal like a cross between Larry Lee from THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS or Wayne Coynes of THE FLAMING LIPS. A pretty song, once again, the song never seems to catch into third gear (a problem I have noted in the past with regards to Motorpsycho songs). (8/10)

3. "On a Plate" (4:09) opens with a repetitive 70s rock sound and feel (GRAND FUNK RAILROAD and BLACK SABBATH?) which continues with the joining in of cowbell and vocals. This one goes on just long enough to get under your skin. Solid. Great sound recording and production. (9/10)

4. "The Promise" (4:40) presents the power of the psychedelic hard rockers of the 70s with the awesome clarity of 21st century recording technology. Great drumming and guitar leads. (Is that a Farfisa I hear?) (9/10)

5. "Kvæstor (iimcl. Where Greyhounds Dare) (7:09) is a hard driven' instrumental that opens with an robotic/industrial sound before a barrage of drums enters and fills the waves. Droning organ and Southern Rock (à la THE ALLMAN BROTHERS) riffing guitars join in and then the guitar soloing goes [&*!#] crazy! shredding at searing speeds, at times in tandem with another guitar (or echoe/delayed) or keyboard. At the four minute mark the continuously traveling drums are left virtually alone save for screeching pitch bending of strings (violin or saw?). The song eventually kicks back into its original Allman Brothers riff until the band gets stuck, like a robot on repeat, to fade. Awesome song! (9/10)

6. "Hell, parts 4-6: Traitor/The Tapestry/Swiss Cheese Mountain" (12:21) opens with some wonderful mellotron intro before giving way to some equally awesome guitar picking. The gentle vocal stylings (layered two or three times) from "Ghost" return. Some great chord progressions and key changes lead into an heavier electric guitar strum bridge to instrumental guitar jam section--two electric guitars taking turns and/or playing with and over each other. Then, around 4:25 things quiet down, mellotron and organ and saw playing along with softly picking acoustic guitars. The song begins to climb out of the delicate mellow section around 7:05 and finally returns to the beginning section at 7:45. At 8:09 full power is unleashed with a turgid interplay of multiple guitars (electric and acoustic) and mellotron--which plays out to the end. Prog heaven! (10/10)

7. "Entropy" (7:23) opens like a CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG song ("Déjà Vu") before CSN & Y-like vocal harmonies join in. Gorgeous! Beautiful electric guitar slides around along with the vocals, though more in the background. Amazing song. Stunningly beautiful. Makes me miss the 70s. And Yoshimi. (10/10)

8. "The Magic & The Wonder (A Love Theme)" (4:41) opens with an awesome guitar, bass, and drum combination. Second guitar and keys come in to fill the song's palette, setting it up for wonderful vocals--psychedelia from the realm of three- and four-part harmony. Wonderful exchange of guitar soli by the two leads in the third minute! Just enough unexpected twists and turns throughout to make this one fresh and fantastic! (10/10)

9. "Hell, part 7: Victim of Rock" (7:36) The hard driving music I became so familiar with on Death-Defying Unicorn, coupled with an awesome psychotic encounter with a pitch modulator in the middle, and some great BUDDY GUY-like guitar shredding, makes this an incredible high energy finale. (9/10)

Too bad the album starts out a little weakly or it'd be vying for my favorite album of 2014. Four and a half stars bumped up for seven (7) five star songs.

"Behind The Sun" finished 6th overall in the voting for the "Best of 2014" list here at Prog Archives, and deservedly so. I must admit I was surprised at how accessible this album is with plenty of catchy and melodic tracks. As usual of late this band combines that heavy sound with psychedelia with excellent results. Reine Fiske(LANDBERK, PAATOS etc.) is back playing guitar and mellotron.

Up first is "Cloudwalker(A Darker Blue)" which is a top three track for me. It almost sounds like PORCUPINE TREE to start as in the opening of "Blackest Eyes" before it kicks in before a minute with vocals to follow. This is such an uplifting, sunny track(not behind the sun here). I love the line "I like the gospel better than the church". A nice mellow section arrives after 3 1/2 minutes with mellotron before the main theme returns a minute later. "Cloud...walk...er". Nice. "Ghost" features mellotron and picked guitar as the drums and a fuller sound follow. This is laid back as reserved vocals join in before 2 minutes. A trippy tune that is quite touching actually. "On A Plate" kicks ass and if it was on my plate it wouldn't be for long(haha). Some fuzz to that guitar which means it must be Reine. The vocals are really good here as well. "The Promise" is a catchy and uptempo track with vocals and it's quite heavy too. I adore this one 'cause it moves me. A ripping guitar solo after 2 1/2 minutes.

"Kvaestor(Including Where Greyhounds Dare)" has such an interesting rhythm to it throughout, I really like what they've done here. The drums are killer as well. I like when the guitar kicks in. This is like a runaway train. "Hell, Part 4-6 : Traitor/The Tapestry/Swiss Cheese Mountain" is the longest song at 12 1/2 minutes. Mellotron leads early before acoustic guitar and bass take over before a minute, reserved vocals follow. So good. Love the bass here. Some nice soaring guitar 3 1/2 minutes in, then a calm follows a minute later with mellotron and acoustic guitar followed by vocals. It kicks into gear after 8 minutes as they jam to the end. "Entropy" is led by bass, strummed guitar and laid back vocals to start in this dreamy psychedelic tune. It does kick into a heavier sound just before 4 minutes as the vocals stop and the guitar leads the way, then back to the previous sound. "The Magic & The Wonder(A Love Theme)" is such a great track with that heavy and melodic sound with vocals. The guitar lights it up 2 minutes in. "Hell, Part 7 : Victim Of Rock" is a heavy bluesy tune with upfront guitar and vocals after a minute. This is a beat-down folks. It's not as full after 3 1/2 minutes but it's still uptempo but the heaviness returns quickly. This is a stampede.

I love this album and as usual Reine Fiske kills with his performance. MOTORPSYCHO is another band from Norway that is quickly becoming one of my favourites.

Apparently Motorpsycho has been releasing album for more than 2 decades now, frequently on a yearly basis. I've also seen statistics that Norwegians (along with Germans and the Dutch) work the least amount of time of all (if you must know, 1400 average annual hours actually worked per worker). Well, socialism - but not communism - is good for prog.

Motorppsycho is best known for late 60s - early 70s heavy, bluesy psychedelic rock revival, in a power trio format, sometimes joined in by a supporting synth, with emphasis on jamming, and a soft type of vocal. But on this album they also display an ear for haunting acoustics, with four out of nine songs in that vein, at least partially.

Motorpsycho are a diverse band who love to try out all sorts of different sounds, which has made for a long and prolific career but can also mean that each new album has to win its over on its own terms. I'd loved their avant- proggy Death-Defying Unicorn, but this time around on Behind the Sun they aren't really going there, instead turning out a style of neo-psychedelic rock which puts me in mind of the more lukewarm and tepid efforts of Mercury Rev - and leaves me just as cold as Mercury Rev's less spellbinding works do. It's fun, it's competent, but it doesn't really speak to me.

'Behind the Sun' was released in 2014 and was another of many Motorphsycho albums. This album had an interesting thing about the vinyl version. It was a double album, but the music from the album fit on 3 sides. On the A side of the album, it is noted that there is an etching, but there is also a double etched track that features 2 instrumental songs. The song that plays is determined by where the record needle is put down on the track. Both of these songs are about the same length, nearing 4 minutes long and neither one of them is available on the CD or download versions of the album, only on the vinyl. Unfortunately, I have not heard them because I don't own the vinyl. But it's a neat little hidden surprise for those that do.

This is one of Motorpsycho's more progressive albums. You will swear, with the classic vibe that runs through this album, that you have been transported back to the heyday of progressive rock, namely, the 70's. You get a heavy dose of stoner, psychedelic, progressive amazing-ness,

'Cloudwalker (A Darker Blue)' starts off the album, officially that is. Right away you notice the tricky rhythm and the nice progressive sound. The melody is reminiscent of 70's style progressive rock and it grabs your attention right away. There is great guitar, and the mellotron sticks out quite well during the instrumental break, and there is a nice acoustic, folksy feel during this time, but otherwise it is a fairly heavy, yet the rhythm is not your standard meter, and that makes it all an excellent sound.

'Ghost' comes next. Like the last track, it lasts a little over 6 minutes, and has lead vocals from Bent Saether, who has the mellower voice of the 2 lead singers. This one starts off on a more acoustic and slower tempo, and the mellotron comes in early, giving this a classic and amazing sound. The vocals have a softer edge with the right amount of vulnerability to them. Very pensive and nice. The 2nd verse adds some effects to the vocals and some other interesting accompaniment that gives it that psychedelic feel that will make you think you are listening to an awesome band from an earlier decade that for some reason you completely missed. Beautifully done.

'On a Plate' is a more hard rock oriented sound, but still retains a tricky guitar riff keeping things progressive. Hans Ryan has the lead on this, and his vocals are gruffer and fit the feel of the harder tracks. This one features a great guitar solo over the top of another guitar doing this amazing hard riff. It also has a great psychedelic vibe underlying everything. 'The Promise' carries forward with the same general feel, but there is some alternating acoustic and electric riffs. This one is also more complex sounding than the last, but still just as great. Again, there is another kickin' guitar solo in the middle.

'Kvaestor [incl. Where Greyhounds Dare]' has a complex beginning with crazy drums, a fairly basic guitar riff against a repeating background that all somehow fits together nicely. The guitars get a bit crazy and chaotic as they take charge of this instrumental. Things pull themselves back into order as the double guitar riff re-establishes itself. When everything breaks down, there is a lot of feedback against wild drumming. Things go psychedelic for a minute, then the music kicks around a bit with it's wild meter before returning to the riff again, this time with more improvisation involved before a dose of more psychedelia tears the track apart. This is 7 minutes that goes by way to quickly.

'Hell Pts 4 ' 6: Traitor/The Tapestry/Swiss Cheese Mountain' countinues the multi suite that started on the previous album 'Still Life With Eggplant'. Starting with a mid tempo beat and a nice mellow, folk sound, you would think you were almost listening to Paul Simon at times, except for that excellent multi-electric guitar interlude after the 2nd verse. After a while, it changes to an ambient, somewhat subdued, acoustic guitar with some mellotron added in for atmosphere. The ambience lasts for a lot longer than you expect, but it gives everything a nice, peaceful setting. Then it starts to build at about the 7:30 mark that leads to more vocals in a folk setting, then a sudden interruption as everything suddenly breaks loose. This section of the suite has a slight lilt to it that still give a folk feeling, but at a more intense and intense level. Somewhere after 11 minutes, vocals start again, but at a much more intense level than before and some great harmonies. Things end rather quickly after the 12 minute mark.

'Entropy' starts with a strummed acoustic guitar and bass. Vocals start, almost reminding one of the early songs of Dewey Bunnell of 'America', just less poppy and more progressive, but seriously, it sounds a lot like him. Just before 4 minutes, electric guitars take on another great solo. After this, things calm down again for another vocal section, then grow more intense again. I can't believe how fast these songs fly by even when they exceed 7 minutes like this one. This album is just full of stellar performances and amazing tracks.

'The Magic and The Wonder (A Love Theme)' is surprisingly heavy, not what you would expect from this title. Again, we get another complex song with some excellent harmonics and more tricky rhythms. This is a shorter track at just over 4 minutes, but it's still quite excellent and progressive.

'Hell Pt. 7: Victim of Rock' starts off very chaotic with everything coming at you full bore and stays that way for over 7 minutes of run time. Even the vocals, when they start, sound quite unhinged. It remains quite unrelentless throughout with a wall of noise. It suddenly goes into a more processed sound with some very strange effects when the vocals reappear. It is almost if they pulled out all of the stops for the last track.

This is Motorpsycho at their best, with an album full of top quality progressive rock. Every track here is amazing, this album has no filler, just some of the best hard, progressive music. Motorpsycho has explored many genres in their time together as a band, sometimes they get everything right, and sometimes they miss the mark, but on this album, they hit it right square on the nose. If you are wondering where to start with this band, this is the place. I tell you, this one will impress you. 5 stars!

Another Saturday, another Motorpsycho review, which means a new sound for these Norwegian mad scientists to experiment with. Here with Behind The Sun, the band decides to combine their very psychedelic portfolio with more 70s flavored symphonic prog.

While it isn't comparable to that of The Death Defying Unicorn, Behind The Sun includes a more symphonic output to their prog rock ventures. I can taste some Yes and early King Crimson influence in these songs through the use of the mellotrons, and the more experimental inflictions on the guitars. It all creates this very unique sound for Motorpsycho as they mesh the wild jamming of their psychedelic muscles with a more nostalgic feel to their usual sound, and in turn, creates this very enticing sound to my ears.

I think what really makes this album work for me is how they seem to take their best elements from their past five albums (Little Lucid Moments - Still Life With Eggplant) and combine them to create this very great album. You can hear an element from their past that makes this album what it is now, and in fact, I'd call it a sequel of sorts to those past albums as they showcase what they can really pull off in a venture such as this. Really, I think it makes this all the more special.

I really tried to think of things I didn't like about this album, but I just couldn't. It is honestly surprising how this band can manage to create masterpiece after masterpiece, or even create a single truly bad album in their discography. They are definitely one of the best prog trios in the past 20 years, and this album, plus their past five records, really do showcase how amazing they are to me.