WELCOME TO THE MACHINE

MONKEY3 has navigated the seven seas of psych and back since its formation in Lausanne, Switzerland as far back as 2001 and has continued to ramp up its space odyssey ever since with a series of albums that incrementally progress the band into farther reaches of the known universe and going where no band has ever gone before. This all instrumental project that began as nothing more as a jam band has seen three of its members: Walter (drums), Jalil (bass) and Boris (guitar) stick with the band all the way from the start with dB (keys and sounds) joining in 2004 for the EP "Monkey III" and two years before the band's first full-length debut "39 Laps" (unless you count the supposedly live self-titled album which came before).

Given that much time in the studio together, musical visions either separate you over time or allow you to coalesce into an even tighter musical beast. MONKEY3 chose the latter and over the course of the last several albums has focused less on the heavy psych jamming elements and embodied a more dynamic and dramatic palette of progressive rock diversity. It's been five years since 2019's "Sphere" and the simian psych rockers are back with their latest slab of proggy space rock in the form of WELCOME TO THE MACHINE, a clear salute to the enigmatic Pink Floyd who the band certainly pays a few tributes to in the course of this album of five tracks that generate a playing time of almost 47 minutes with the ultimate tribute exploding into full tribute mode on the closing "Collapse."

Imbued with all the proper anti-gravitational atmospheric lift offs, WELCOME TO THE MACHINE doesn't just allow your escape into the ethereal but also features hefty stoner rock workouts with stellar guitar, bass and drum bravado that perfectly navigate the pacifying ambience with grace. The band beautifully meanderings through space rock with beautiful contrapuntal elements including echoey reverb, soaring atmospheric backdrops, lallygagging percussive drive and then contrasts it all with intermittent bursts of heavy stoner rock that allow the guitar, bass and drum to go ape[&*!#] (or is that monkey[&*!#]?). The bluesy melodic constructs hearken to the 70s era of psychedelic space rock and of course moments of Pink Floyd influenced nods are scattered throughout, however when it comes right down to it, MONKEY3 has found its own unique little niche which doesn't really evoke any band, psychedelic, stoner rock or otherwise.

A very melodic album that contrasts with both pacifying and abrasive tones and timbres. The guitar tones in particular are heavily distorted more like a grunge band of the 90s but the soaring lead guitar solos which are set somewhat low in the mix evoke the mighty Pink Floyd at their peak such as any track on the "Animals" classic album. While every track is distinct perhaps the most satisfying on the entire is the beautiful "Kali Yuga" which in musical notes narrates the Hindu galactic calendar period that we are exiting as we transition into the Satya yuga, a time when the wicked nature of humankind will be followed by a golden age. This particular track is the band at its best with beautiful guitar tones oscillating from arpeggios and a multi-layered contrapuntal approach that balances dynamics as perfectly as a skilled yogi. The track demonstrates the patience one must have to navigate larger systems through its nonchalant incremental procession which is about as satisfying for progressive space rock it gets.

While "Rackman" turns up the volume once again with a heavy stoner rock bombast, "Collapse" borrows a trick or two from classic Pink Floyd albums and offers the ultimate tribute to the band with a medley of various guitar riffs, drum rolls and melodies including the classic WELCOME TO THE MACHINE namesake. Overall this sixth album from these Swiss space rockers is extremely intelligently designed with five distinct tracks that evoke their own series of moods and spacey vibes with the ultimate closing tribute to the greatest space rockers of all in a beautifully composed mix of some of the most memorable moments of Pink Floyd. Showing no sign of burning out MONKEY3 sounds like it's only getting started with a nice mix of stoner rock verging on metal with Ozric Tentacle styled synthesized trippiness. A beautiful album and one of the best progressive space rock bands of the modern era.

The Swiss band's first studio album since 2019 shows them stretching out a bit as well as paying homage to Pink Floyd.

1. "Ignition" (10:38) prolonged space synth work to open before radio voices are heard (as if from a spaceship). at 1:29 an explosion of guitars sets off a chain reaction that leads to a hard-driving motif of heavy prog. The motif develops at the end of the third minute into a vehicle for a pretty wild electric guitar solo--which lasts about a minute before giving way to another spacious patch of lone synth and then rolling bass ' la PF Animals. Drums, spacey echo-guitar strums, and Richard Wright-like synth make intermittent contributions, somewhat filling the very atmospheric soundscape over the rolling bass guitar. (17.75/20)

2. "Collision" (6:03) percussion drums and rolling "Stranglehold" bass fills the opening minute of this while synth washes and random echoed noises flit in and out. At the 1:30 mark the lead guitar begins a rather sedate solo but then backs off for the whole band to congeal around a gentle space-synth motif before returning to the "Stranglehold" motif and some lead guitar soloing. At 2:55 everything ramps up into a metal version of the opening motif--that's when Boris really begins to rage around his fretboard--all leading up to a cool crescendo finish. A surprisingly simple yet satisfying song. (8.87510)

3. "Kali Yuga" (10:01) great sound and dynamics but it never really ever seems to come together into something with purpose or resolve. (17.75/20)

4. "Rackman" (7:13) a bombastic, slow-moving power chord progression that is actually very satisfying in a kind of Devin Townsend way. In the fourth minute the guitar power chords back off, bass and drums trodding along, so that lead guitarist can solo, but then they all come back to the hard-drivin' motif for the fifth and sixth minutes, but the guitarist then moves back and forth from power chord strumming to soloing for the remainder of the song. I think this is my favorite song on the album! (13.5/15)

5. "Collapse" (12:50) an obvious nod to PINK FLOYD--at times getting a little too close with some of its sound and instrument imitations--but, ultimately, this is a very satisfying song--one that gets better (and further away from the PF imitations) as it goes on. (22.5/25)

Total Time 46:45

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of heavy atmospheric space/psychedelic prog.