The Mind Expansion Thread - Psych/Space Rock

Their music travels a wide scope of emotions, from delicate and soothing to rock passages with the guitar leading the way to climatic, powerful and moving. The band knows how to create effective space-rock themes with psychedelic elements and a good example of that would be the track Floating Underground, which incidentally has a very prominent and appealing bass line. The synths add a great spacey atmosphere with their effects and the guitars soars through them; all this results in an excellent tune. The tracks flow very well from one to the next (some are directly connected) and there is a very homogenous sound to the album; A somewhat sad and depressed mood that yet has optimism in it. A good example of that is the beautiful song Peaceful 5 which while being short and acoustic mixes the melancholy of the album with a brighter than usual sense than the rest of the songs on this album; the vocal harmony of the band members are done well and are very beautiful. Sound references would be the spacey rock period of Porcupine Tree (Sky Moves Sideways) with a bit of the later material as well with touches of symphonic-prog/art-rock a-la King Crimson and Anekdoten as is evident from the flute part; also there are post-rock characteristics of climatic guitar riffs peaks.

The vocals are not the strong side of the band, though they do not detract much from the music. Not that they are bad, but a stronger, fuller voice style would give the music a stronger effect.

Overall, an enjoyable album I'll come back to listen to; however I do hope they'll form more of their own sound and rely less on the influences I mentioned above.

3.5 stars.

Review by sinkadotentree
Prog Reviewer

Greg Walker has this to say about this band on his web-site.Beautiful melancholy progressive,like a mix of ANEKDOTEN,LANDBERK and PORCUPINE TREE.One of the best things i've heard from Isreal. I bought it right away knowing Greg's excellent taste in music,this was before REALEAF were added to the site by Avestin. These four guys have spent a lot of time listening to seventies music, and have come up with a psychedelic gem called Possibly Not. Early PORCUPINE TREE is a definite refence like Assaf says in the bio. This is sad and spacey with psychedelic lyrics.I love this stuff. Giant Bus In The Sky opens with gentle guitar as light drums and synths come in.This is mellow and melancholic.The sound is building slowly.Vocals 2 1/2 minutes in.The bass is prominant.This is such a dreamy tune.Guitar after 7 minutes is heavenly, and then it gets heavy to end it. Floating Underground is an instrumental that features a slow but steady beat as raw guitar melodies echo over top.Awesome sound. PORCUPINE TREE-like synths come in at 2 minutes.A nice heavy bass follows.The psychedelic guitar is ripping it up as synths cry out.Incredible sound! Something Breaks (Pt.1) opens with soft vocals as guitar gently plays and drums beat lightly.A heavy sound arrives a minute in.Check out the bass! Processed vocals a minute later and then it kicks into a higher gear.It settles quickly as the tempo and mood change often.This is such an outstanding track. The Rising (Pt.1) is less then a minute of what sounds like wind blowing and water flowing. Everything's Going South opens with gentle guitar before spoken words come in reminding me of The Necromancer by RUSH. Wilson-like vocals follow with light drums,guitar and a fuller sound that builds. A Peaceful V opens with reserved vocals that are almost spoken as guitar is strummed lightly.It picks up a bit a minute in.Multi-vocal melodies and prominant bass follow before returning to original sound. Walking Away With Closed Eyes is again very mellow as guitar and drums take turns before vocals arrive.Multi-vocals after a minute.Then some blistering guitar comes in with heavy bass.It calms right down quickly then multi-vocals are back 3 minutes in as sound starts to build. Possibly Not is the 9 minute title track to end the album.The intro is dark with guitar and drums.Spacey synths join in and then vocals 2 minutes in.The synths and almost spoken vocals remind me so much of PORCUPINE TREE.Amazing soundscape.He's singing before 5 minutes.The song starts to get a little freaky then the guitar comes in and lights it up as the drummer puts on a show.It gets really heavy 7 minutes in.It then becomes silent until what sounds like an atom bomb goes off ends the track and album. I highly recommend this record to fans of early PORCUPINE TREE and fans of psychedelic music.Great album.

Appalachian Translator are a three-piece outfit by three Primak brothers, who have had much experience and grown up through home recordings. Yes it's no problem to say that from their 'Garbage Snake' (the roots of Appalachian) era, they have continually built extensive experience and massive material for this terrific debut album. You can see such a kaleidoscopic effect even only listening to the first track. Indeed they say they should be much influenced by such as British progressive symphonic rock, Hawkwindish space rock, Krautrock, new heavy progressive rock. But at least for me, they seem to be a faithful learner of shoegaze / garage independent rock. Their fuzzy and twisted style, especially Luke's low-tone and rumbling voices...I can feel as if they should be a follower of Stone Temple Pilots. (Luke's voices sound like Scott Weiland's ones...any comments?)

Anyway here are remarkably heavy and thickened sound 'mass' and sound 'lump', with adding on various material one after another. Consider they can well throw sci-fi noises, sometimes loud growlin', effects with echoic sounds and voices, and markedly stoner / shoegaze / garage low-tone guitar and bass sounds in this work. Their sharp-edged ensemble can pierce your brain slowly and steadily and knock you over the 'real' world to their psychedelia. only their pop sense can relieve you at a little time...can't it?

I wonder how they can be expressed - kaleidoscopic stoner Krautishly-psychedelic garage rock, in my humble opinion. In any case, please listen to the album and digest as you can.

Consider An Invasion
Appalachian Translator Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by Rivertree
Special Collaborator Psych/Space Team & Band Submissions

APPALACHIAN TRANSLATOR are a really interesting find. Three brothers from Pennsylvania making music together - enjoyable by all means with psychedelic and spacey elements in the majority. Unmistakebly influenced by several prog bands and styles and therefore they celebrate a special eclectic style on top of it. 'Consider An Invasion' is not very lengthy - nearly a total time of a vinyl - even though this one offers various impressions.

Emulsion Tubes proves that immediately. Belonging to the album's extended tracks the opener surely is able to represent the distinctive genre - one of the highlights. You will find a spacey synthesizer intro first but the special trickiness comes from a combination of mellow parts (electric piano, acoustic guitar) and heavy moments (impetuous vocals and rhythm work, multiple electric guitar layers). What may sound like plain jamming for the first impression evolves to a well thought-out tension-filled diversity after some rounds - well done!

A bouncing bass guitar accompanies you through the next songs - besides the inventive vocals another remarkable goody. If it is the grooving Knowingly or the garage rock inspired Who Are Them and Masters of Gravity - the latter provided with crazy vocal contributions. The excellent False Alarm expresses some krautish weirdness where Un-ultimate is defining something new - a kind of space punk.

Showing a slight pop appeal first Research sounds retro - like longing for the beat music dominated 60s where the first bands tried to experiment with some psychedelia. But then they live up to their reputation when changing to a floating spacey section later on. The album offers another challenge with the lengthy Community - obviously an eclectic one and hard to describe. Initiated by a sample swirling crimsonesque guitars are taking control until the band is on the run to heavier territories. Then surprisingly some Bo Hansson feelings come up when going on to a more relaxed jamming middle section.

Again this seems to evolve to something simply repetitive at a first glance but the instruments are slightly varying in fact and care for some tension - probably the band's masterpiece. Finally the heavy Hunter From the Treetop is made up very experimental too where Luke Primak seems to scream his head off right in the middle of the song but fortunately is able to recover soon.

'Consider An Invasion' is a matured album, ambitious, far away from any mainstream. However - although containg some weirdness here and there consisting of really listenable songs, requiring full attention to reach for the depths. APPALACHIAN TRANSLATOR are on the way to new horizons here - that's unique. Recommended!

Review by King Lerxt

I just got it and play it for the first time. The album is very interesting and the sound is very reminiscent of the 70s progressive rock.

This new propossal includes a mix of phasers and delay, manic-flanged drums, synthesizer mayhem, acid- guitar leads, unthinkable bass lines, time-signatures, and cosmic space sounds of the highest order.

Titan are a pleasure to behold. Highly recommended for fans of all things psychedelic/prog/Kraut/space rock, be it contemporaries like Acid Mothers Temple, Comets on Fire, Boris, Green Milk from the Planet Orange, and Dead Meadow, or legends such as Guru Guru, Amon Duul, Can, King Crimson and Hawkwind.

4 stars!

A Raining Sun Of Light And Love, For You And You And You
Titan Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by chamberry
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

While most stoner rock bands draw influences from Black Sabbath and Hawkwind, Titan adds more influences into the mix. They incorporate the spirit and attitude of 70's progressive rock bands to their raw and druggy sound. This is a great step forward within their genre and compared to other "retro" bands they are still a force to be reckoned with.

The sound and feel of the albums is firmly rooted in the 70's and although this can be a bad thing if one's looking for innovation, if we talk about how good the music is then it's another different story. They have a wide array of influences ranging from bands such as Neu!, Ash Ra Temple, Hawkwind, Rush, Mahavishnu Orchestra (although less disciplined) and even Comus. Now try imagining all of those bands mixed and served with a coating of some good ol' stoner rock. From the fuzzed guitars, to the steady-yet-interesting rhythm section and the different kinds of keyboards such as the Hammond organ (for the heavier parts) and the moog (for the intergalactic trips) all of these instruments help create this wonderful retro sound.

All of the songs here are around the 10 minute mark and they have plenty of time to develop their sound. All of the songs have different moods and themes, but all are centered in showing off their prog influences (and jams). The first songs starts with their only vocals in the whole album sounding like Roger Wootton from Comus and then switching to a organ/ guitar power duo leading us into the extended jam for there on after. The second song is the "heavy prog" song in the album giving us nods to Goblin, Bigelf and other "heavy prog" bands while still having a trippy atmosphere in the whole song. Sadly this song isn't very varied and its the weakest of the bunch. The third songs kicks us back in action and now with a space rock vibe and Acid Mothers Temple-ish synth effects. This song also shows their stoner rock roots more clearer and its the highest point in the album. The last song is their Krautrock moment. A single motorik beat keeps the song going echoing Neu! in their prime and an excellent song to finish the album.

As you can see by reading this review if you're looking for innovation then good luck finding it here, but if you want some prog inspired stoner rock jams then this is your stop. Also if you enjoy bands such as Comets on Fire, Dead Meadow, Colour Haze, Mammatus and related then this is for you too. Highly recommended for people who found this review interesting.

3.5 out of 5

(Don't let the star rating fool you. If you're interested in this band then don't hesitate and check them out.)

Great debut of this collective which celebrates 'spontaneous real-time composing' for what also several other swedish bands are known. Just to mention KAABEL or ØRESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE (OSC) for example. So the songs are often the result of endless jams, just the essence of them, 10 songs which are stylistically hard to categorize. The psychedelic element is dominant, the band acts with much variety and links to the 70s (prog) rock. Additionally théy use a lot of effects and native instruments. Vocals are accent free and so you're sometimes willing to suppose the band is from the States and not from Sweden.

The album starts with birds' twittering and Didjeridoo. One of a kind, a brave opener, has very accessible melodies and is also complex indeed - tricky and eclectic with a dark atmosphere ('you're eating my mind'). Susanne's vocals are top-notch and serve a cosy touch but can also be harsh when the song explodes with heavy guitars and drums. This is excellent song writing (if they ever did so in a classical way but I don't think it's spontaneous), one of my favourites. Autumn is initiated by the african Udu which sounds like a tabla. The band is playing similar to JEFFERSON AIRPLANE with speed variations, melancholic with wonderful vocals once again. The following two songs are somewhat ANEKDOTEN like, very powerful performed whereas Ode to a goddess is a perfect mix of Psychedelic pure and heavy Rock. The song ends suddenly and it sounds like even Suzanne had been surprised about that. Long distance call shines with a groovy rhythm, great guitar work and an eastern european polka interlude.

'This is a man's world' the main refrain is revealing with Gahn. Yet another very dynamic and heavy killer song. Daddy's dead mysterious, clutterlng, weird with Digeridoo once again and R.A.M.M first of all convinces because of Göran's excellent drum work. In a world of trouble they find their way with safety, similar to the opener exellently arranged and musically perfect. As for a highlight you can listen to simultaneous vocals and guitar playing with a native american atmosphere.

This album contains no weak song which is not quite natural. Highly recommended - one of the best of the year 2005 I could listen to.

Heavy, aggressive, raw, angry, dark, repetitive, hypnotic, mesmerizing, psychedelic. Bitter? All of these words can serve as good descriptions for the music that Solstafir plays on this album.

Sólstafir is an Icelandic band that was created in 1994 and went through several phases and demo, promo and EP releases up to the point of releasing their first full-length in 2002 and this one, their second, in 2005. Sólstafir provides a listening experience that's based on mood, power and "tripping out" with the music and not on technical playing, complexity or virtuosity. If you want to know more about the background of the band, you're welcome to read the bio I've written for them in their page in Prog Archives. Made up of 7 songs, mostly long, with the opener being almost 20 minutes, this album can be exhausting (in a good way) and one needs to be in a proper mood to absorb its entire 70 minutes. The length, however, doesn't mean the songs harbor diversity or are complex epics; rather it should tell you of their inclination to create lengthy metallic freakout. At times it sounds like long repetitive and endless jams. That is, they go on for quite a while in their hypnotic riffing (which can be either slow or fast), and thus create a particular mood that can serve as a good companion to chill out or float away with your thoughts; that is until Aðalbjörn Tryggvason, the vocalist, resumes his screams. The vocals are mostly harsh screaming which to me seem to fit the music quite well, although at times can be too much or out of place; they complete very well the feel of the music and add to the intensity level. The thing is that when they're jamming or more accurately in their trance mode, it can be a bit tedious and too long; but when they garner up speed and energy, it's fabulous. Their dynamic side is impossible for me to ignore or let go by unnoticed; it's too thrilling and catchy and makes me shake my head or legs. Add to that the heaviness of their music and it can be a crushing experience. The guitars come crumbling down on my ears unmercifully and raw sounding, enhanced by the aforementioned vocals and with the blasting drums, one gets an ear a "devastating" listening experience. There are songs like Ljósfari, which have a haunting catchy melodic peak (yes, melodic). Those are great moments in the album, though not found often enough in my opinion.

A Masterpiece Of Bitterness is an angry album; it's heavy and raw. It's a great album to let loose your energies with. It's powerful and can be almost hypnotic in the parts where they play those ongoing riffs continuously. It's an effective and well made metal release but not an outstanding one. I do enjoy listening to it but there are some flaws as I mentioned in the review that prevent me from enjoying it more, such as some over-repetitiveness. I also think they should introduce more variety into their songs; there are places where I feel they could have gone further on and develop the theme or idea more and make the song more interesting and thus even more compelling to listen to.

I'm intrigued to see whether the band's next album will be in a similar vein or will they progress from this point onwards.

3.5 stars

4 stars.

Phase 5
35007 Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by sinkadotentree
Prog Reviewer

They've certainly toned things down a lot from their previous album "Liquid".That record was almost doom-like in places whereas this one is more trippy and even-keeled.I like this one a lot though especially when the organ and guitar come to the fore. "20 09" opens with not much going on until it kicks in after a minute.Drums and a trippy sound is the result.The guitar is more prominant before 3 minutes.Great sound ! Some nice organ runs here too. "23 32" kicks in heavily right away,guitar fills the air as the organ joins in. "06 18" is slower but heavier.I like the guitar.It turns spacey after 2 1/2 minutes and then blends into the next song "44 05".It changes to a trippy sound with organ fairly quickly.The guitar dominates after 2 minutes for about a minute.It starts to turn spacey then out of nowhere before 6 minutes we get a ripping guitar solo.It settles with drums before 8 minutes before turning really spacey again before 10 minutes. "22 25" opens with relaxed guitar melodies that soon turn aggressive.Organ and drums start to build.It settles then kicks back in.Love the guitar before 4 minutes. I do like this style of music a lot, especially turned up loud.

Liquid
35007 Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by Cioraneto

The best thing i heard in the last months.

Made by a peculiar heavy progressive band, this album is very hypnotic, with great drums and all instrumental, without the energic vocals of the first 2 albums of the band, and much more spacey and atmospheric than his predecessors. A strong guitar in style of stoner rock bands and synths effects that create furious crescendos, particulary in Voyage Automatique, my favourite track. Other highlights are Tsunami and Crystalline, i give five stars for them too. Four stars for Evaporate and then you have a masterpiece of progressive music for my taste. I recommend this effort, for sure!

Liquid
35007 Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by sinkadotentree
Prog Reviewer

Once again i have to thank Avestin for bringing another great band to my attention. The title of the record is "Liquid" and on the front cover is a person diving into the water,and when you open it up you will see this amazing picture of these towering waves on both sides and you feel like your in this swell at the mercy of the ocean. I am reminded of the title of THE SPACIOUS MIND album called "Sailing Of The Seagoat".This for me is a ride on the sea that sometimes is at night where it's dark and calm when suddenly the waves start to build and your hanging on tight.Then a crushing wave will send you on an exhilarating ride.Next it's sunny and everything is perfect you would rather be nowhere else until the seas start to get rough and it continues to get worse as the clouds have covered the sun and your hanging on for dear life again.Yeah this is a trip. It opens with "Tsunami" and as you might imagine from the title this one has some crushing soundscapes.It starts with spacey synths that are joined by gentle guitar melodies 2 1/2 minutes in.It's all starting to build as drums are added.We get a full sound 5 minutes in with BLACK SABBATH like heaviness,almost doom-like.It all calms back down before things start to get heavy again 9 minutes in,as crushing waves crash upon us. "Crystalline" has a pastoral intro as the sound starts to build.The melody 3 minutes in sounds so good! This is perfect weather folks and you wish it would just go on like this forever.But 7 minutes in we are flattened by a wall of sound as the song ends. "Evaporate" has a good contrast between the heavy outbreaks and the wonderful soundscapes throughout this song.It has a spacey ending. "Voyage Automatique" has a good beat and a really nice sound with spacey synths, and it's heavy.The beat then stops as spacey synths continue until the song is over.This is the exact same melody that opened the album. I highly recommend this album to all you space cadets out there.This sounds so good loud.