PAINTED MANTRA

An epic instrumental journey

From the land of our own dear Aussie Byrd comes Melbourne's amazing Mushroom Giant. Their roots go back to about 2002 and this is their third full-length release. Their live shows are very well received as they attempt to marry aural with the visual presentations that enhances the themes of their music.

Mushroom Giant are an entirely (currently) instrumental rock experience and what a journey this album is. My best description might be to start with Djam Karet level jamming, but with a bit more post-rock/metal feel than just space-psych. There are also similarities to popular favorites. If you are one of those prog fans who are always looking for that mystical missing link band that is a cross of Floydian landscapes with Rush-like power, this might be just the band you've been searching for. A dual-guitar attack joins keyboards and a powerful rhythm section, balancing technical virtuosity with emotion, and sending both to the edge of instrumental rock imagination without crossing into avant or dissonant realms. It is imaginative but it maintains accessibility as well. They move effortlessly from the serene and subtle to the heavy and epic allowing one to be absorbed, listening can become something more than just song, song, song. This is one of those albums that can be like a prog-rock fan's version of a rave, except rather than dance beats you have something much more winding and not repetitive, but still with a trance-like effect. Generally the sound is a powerful rock but they also employ Hammond and Rhodes as great contrasting sounds, as well as some ambient sounds. The 14 minute "Scars of the Interior" is a good starting track to get a summary taste of what Mushroom Giant does.

"They've always been a band with a talent for creating epic, cinematic soundscapes, but with "Painted Mantra" Mushroom Giant have taken it a step further. The sheer scope of the album is incredible. This isn't a record you can just drop in and out of at random. It's an experience, an hour-long voyage through a spectral brew of prog, post-rock, metal and Eastern-influenced rock. And they manage to do it all without vocals..." -WAYNE MARSHALL - Beat Magazine

You can sample or buy "Painted Mantra" on Bandcamp by clicking the band page link on their front PA artist page. It will definitely make my end of year list.

With a name like MUSHROOM GIANT and a title like "Painted Mantra" I just figured this Australian band was playing Psychedelic music, especially seeing them listed as such on here. Well not so much, at least not on this album. This is an all instrumental recording that is Post- Rock 101 reminding me somewhat of RUSSIAN CIRCLES. There is one track called "Lunar Entanglement" that has a clear Psychedelic style to it though so maybe their earlier records were more in that vein. Gotta love the cover art no? A black and white picture that has one of their long time friends morphed into a tree, very cool. In 2014 MUSHROOM GIANT opened for PELICAN and soon after they went into the studio to record this album.

"Event Loop" has a heavy guitar driven sound that I really like, especially when the guitar starts to solo over top. It settles back after 2 minutes and there is a slight RUSH vibe here. Contrasts continue. "Primaudial Soup" is another heavy track with the guitar playing over top at a higher pitch. Love the rhythm section after a minute. Some ripping guitar before 5 minutes. "Triptych" follows a couple of rather Heavy-Prog styled songs and it's a definite nod to Post-Rock. Picked guitar and atmosphere as it builds. A calm before 3 minutes as bowed bass comes in. So beautiful. "Lunar Entanglement" as I mentioned in the intro is Psychedelic and man this is good. It's spacey like we're out in space somewhere as picked guitar and drums roll in and out. Some gorgeous guitar starts to solo late.

"Aesong" might be my favourite. We get Hammond and distortion which is a nice mix. Picked guitar and drums come into the spotlight. There's almost an Eastern vibe here as SIDDHARTHA from Turkey comes to mind. Love this. Sheer bliss actually. "Scars Of The Interior" is by far the longest track at 14 minutes. The wind is blowing as marching sounds come in followed by picked guitar and another guitar doing expressions. Man this brings images to the mind keeping the song's title in view. A change 2 1/2 minutes in as heavy outbursts are contrasted with the picked guitar and drums. The guitar starts to solo reminding me of Steven Wilson. So good. A calm before 6 minutes then it starts to build before 8 minutes and is soon kicking ass. Another calm before 10 minutes with an Eastern vibe. Bowed bass a minute later with strummed guitar. Cool. It then kicks back in hard.

"The Drake Equation" opens with picked guitar, drums and atmosphere. They start to amp it up before 3 1/2 minutes as the tempo also speeds up. This stays relentless until almost the end. "Four Hundred And Falling" is my least favourite but it's still pretty good. Relaxed guitar and floating organ to start as a slow beat joins in. Fender piano also arrives in this slow moving soundscape. The guitar is more prominent before 3 1/2 minutes as it starts to build but then we get a calm before it re-builds. It's 7 minutes in before it really takes off but it's brief. "Majestic Blackness" opens with piano and then distorted guitar expressions join in around a minute followed by a beat. It kicks in hard at 2 1/2 minutes with distortion as the slowly played piano from the start continues. A calm returns 4 minutes in.

I can see why Finnforest rated this in his top 10 of 2014, just an excellent instrumental recording that Post-Rock fans should check out.