PSYCHEDELIC/SPACE ROCK

Amplifier is one of those bands that hooked me from the very first listen. Now a duo Matt Brobin on drums and multi-instrumentalist Sel Balamir they return with their eighth studio album, Gargantuan.

The music on Gargantuan is incredibly well-crafted. The album sounds amazing , with top-tier production that highlights every intricate detail. Amplifier continues to blend progressive rock with experimental textures, creating a sonic journey . Tracks like "Gateway" and "King Kong" showcase their ability to balance thunderous riffs with atmospheric soundscapes.

The lead single, "Invader," is a prime example of the band's direction. A pulsating, monolithic wall of sound, it captures Amplifier's signature intensity while adding a haunting edge. Balamir himself calls it an Amplifier classic in the making.

Gargantuan is a great record. Their style might remind some of bands like Elder or King Buffalo, but beyond that, it has a strong originality. The album is packed with killer solos, lush keyboard textures, and incredible drumming. "King Kong," "Blackhole," and "Cross Dissolve" are the standout tracks, but the whole record is consistently strong. Every song is well-crafted and well-executed.

Unlike 2024, 2025 is shaping up to be a great year for progressive music?especially when I get to hear bands like Amplifier. Supposedly, there's a CD edition that includes extra tracks, but I only found out after buying it on Bandcamp. You have to purchase it through their website or another retailer, not Bandcamp, which is a little frustrating. As a fan who loves this music, it's disappointing that limited information keeps people from accessing the full experience.

Dhvani, a self-described "cosmic music project from planet Saturn," are actually from the gorgeous hills of Uscio, Italy, near Genoa. There, in the hidden forests hinted at in the album's cover art, perhaps, lies their headquarters known at "the thirteenth room." Dhvani formed around 2013, and Angustium is their debut full-length release on Psyka Records. They are an all-instrumental, three-piece, neo-psych jamband aiming to take you on a wild journey. The sound of Dhvani is a bright and modern psych/space one that, like the last psych band I reviewed, Da Captain Trips, reminds me of bands like Djam Karet while also connecting with the past on a interstellar level. Italy is becoming a real leader in carrying the torch for modern psych and psych-adjacent soundscapes. They have a nice contrast of heaviness, from distortion/effects-laden guitar leads to softer moments with clean guitar and flute. Their heavy stuff is pretty intense, pretty dense, and they can groove as well with some dirty riffs. There are luxurious keyboard layers and monster bass in the title track. There is also quite a noticeable vibe of '90s Porcupine Tree here, those spacy jams with lots of energy from The Sky Moves Sideways era. I think it will appeal to anyone who loves that PT era. This is a very good first album from Dhvani. Love the album cover too! Looking forward to more chapters from the thirteenth room.

I love this record! A top five for 2016 which was a really strong year for me. It's just unusual to have such gifted players in a psychedelic band. Some mention ASTRA which is a good comparison. Lisa was added to the site here recently under Electronics for her solo work which started the same year this album was released in 2016. We do get vocals here, both male and female, sort of in the HAWKWIND style. The guitarist offers up some ripping solos on this album, but some variety as well. The bass is huge! Then add the mellotron, synths, electronics, fender rhodes and on and on from Bella Donna, and the result is a masterpiece of this style. HAWKWIND, RUSH, BLACK SABBATH and ASTRA came to mind.

What can I say about the opener? "Book Of The Dead" opens with the waves of mellotron for 2 minutes. Come on! Drums and synths then kick in, but how about the sequencers. I did not see that one coming. "Kill The Slavemaster" has such a heavy start with the bass shaking the soundscape when the tempo picks up. Crank it up! The mellotron and synths sound great but man the fender rhodes is priceless. Lisa has a Jazz background and the lady can play that electric piano. When the e-piano stops then mellotron and synths return. Killer tune! "Searching" and "Dweller Of The Twilight Void" contrast nicely with the heavier "Searching" giving way to the strummed acoustic guitar led sound on the latter. Male vocals with some cool lyrics on that one.

"As Sure As The Sun" is an over 27 minute ride into the cosmos. This track has it all. Repeated themes and I like the combination of Rock and Psychedelia. The spacey mellotron and synth led passages, to the ripping guitar led parts where the bass crushes it. A light show here from the guitarist at times.The man can shred. It opens with the sound of running water as acoustic guitar and reserved vocals help out. Mellotron a minute in as the vocals step aside. Chunky bass and mellotron late but this is such an adventerous trip. Love the drumming before 13 minutes. Jazzy 14 minutes in. What? The male singer sounds like the MOTORPSYCHO vocalist. Honestly to describe this song would take up more space than the rest of the review.There is so much to this suite.

This is my music right here. I'm actually surprised this album didn't make more waves. 5 ageless stars for this one. And of course a spot in my "best of" psychedelic list.

Da Captain Trips (a nod to Stephen King's virulent plague) is an instrumental psych jamband from the Piacenza/Lecco region of Italy. They formed in 2009. The current lineup is Riccardo Cavicchia, Federico Chiappa, Tommaso Villa, and Paolo "Apollo" Negri. They have released several full-length albums, a live album, and maintained a good activity of live dates. According to a recent interview with It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine, some of their favorite albums are German: Ash Ra Tempel, Manuel Göttsching discography, Faust, Can, Tangerine Dream, and Klaus Schulze.

Maths of the Elements is an ambitious project that initially reminded me of bands like Djam Karet and Ozric Tentacles with modern production values and great sound, but I suspect there is also an inherent old school appreciation there too. I think there may be a catering to an audience that likes to enjoy a bit of perception-altering from time to time, shroom-rock as a friend referred to it, all instrumental and born of a spirit of improvisations past and present. Art and visuals are a big part of it as well as you can deduce from the amazing cover art. The themes of Maths of the Elements are complex and explained in detail on their Bandcamp page, but basically each track is a study into various theaters of nature (rivers, mountains, oceans, et cetera) and the elements that shape them. An attempt is made to pull the listener into reflection, into an immersion to heighten their awareness of the topic.

The six tracks range from 6 to 10 minutes, and there is not much change-up or diversionary songwriting tendencies once your adventure begins. They generally lock into a groove atop a fat and up-front bass, and they blast off. There are lush keyboard and guitar back-drops, repeating motifs, feisty drumming, and extended, pleasure-inducing solos. I love the "color" of the keyboard sound choices as well as the guitar tones---both nail the pleasure zone in your brain. Well-placed nature recordings help create the imagery and mood. My take is that this is the sound of friends who have jammed and jammed for years on end, who know each other very well. They play off of each other with ease, and they jam with a lot of heart and passion. They also capture a great live sound in this recording. It's not over-produced; it has a pulse. From the mellow meadows to the hard-rocking peaks, everything is beautifully captured and sounds great on headphones.

If spacey and rocking, ethereal instrumental forays are your thing, you should really dig this one. They put a lot of love and care into their artistic presentation with digital, CDs, and special black vinyl releases. Kudos to these guys for maintaining the band they so obviously enjoy, the long friendships and the commitment to keep jamming.

1. "Celestial Gaze" (5:05) sounds like something in between ALAN PARSONS PROJECT, THE BUGGLES and Depeche Mode. Even the reverb-drenched vocal sounds like something straight out of I Robot. I don't really want to like it but I do! A lot! Nice guitar work in the end section. (9.125/10)

2. "Spacekeeper" (5:09) okay; rendered dull by some fairly standard (Ozric) ideas and sounds. (8.75/10)

3. "Numenia" (5:09) with some Entwistle bass thrown in for good measure. The singing (and lyrics) are a bit underwhelming (and lazy) but the music is infectious. I love the Middle Easterns flutes and melody lines thrown into the instrumental mid-section. The second half sees the band ramping things up--as if shifting into a third gear for a Krautrock jam. Nice! A top three song to be sure. (9.125/10) 4. "Utopian Structures" (5:29) I love the Ozrics-like space-jungle noises filling space over and between the syncopated space-funk bass 'n' drums. Weird to have a long pause at the 2:30 mark, but then wah-reverb guitars set up a different motif for the second half. Cool percussive accents striking within the electronic weave of guitars and synths. All instrumental, this one even has a little Magick Brother & Mystic Sister feel to it. Another top three (9.125/10)

5. "Breathing Fire" (5:17) a fairly weak, fickle song that starts off sounding as if it's trying to be a funky jazz-rock fusion tune before turning into more of a four-chord classic rock tune for the next minute. At 2:09 it then turns down a more exciting, proggy side street before coming to a stop to watch a busy street from the trappings of a Krautrock Kosmicshe flashback. (8.66667/10)

6. "Legion" (4:51) middling; no more singing, please. Some if the modern trance-world synth work is cool but much of the song feels as if it's just waiting for something or someone else to come and rescue them from the mire of the tar pits. (8.75/10)

7. "Sand Halo" (6:01) solid and spacey (and I Robot APP again--especially the electric piano work) but those reverb vocals are so unnecessary. Nice guitar solo but I just love the more spacious groove sections. (8.875/10)

8. "The Citadel (5:55) not enough development--though the "full" PURE REASON REVOLUTION-like second half is better. (8.875/10)

Total Time 42:56

I really like the clarity in the mixes of these songs--and the imaging of the overall soundscapes; the sound on the album as a whole is very well, very thoughtfully, very intelligently engineered. This may be one of the best Psych/Space albums I've heard in a while. Yes, there's a bit of an Ozric Tentacles vibe here but the soundscapes are so much more dimensional, at least hemi-spherical. I also occasionally find myself thinking of Barcelona's Magick Brother & Mystic Sister while listening to this album.

B/four stars; an excellent modern collection of Space Rock and Krautrock- influenced Psychedelic Rock songs. A band to continue watching for the flashes of pure brilliance.

So what are those limitations that En Annan Varid would need to overcome in order make it even higher in my personal ratings list? Well there are 2 things that could have elevated this album above and beyond. The first of those would be a little more intensity. There is some awesome work coming from Puertas on flute which is really the defining feature of this album, especially the first track but the rest of the band never seem to break out and let rip at any point. Odesjo is clearly a big fan of Gilmour as his style is very much from the same school but they never put quite enough into those solos to make then stand out. Of course the tempo of these tracks does make it hard to feel much intensity unless you have Gilmour's level of talent but there are other ways to achieve that captivating envelopment. Andren is probably the most disappointing because the keyboards are relatively absent throughout the album. Many don't really comprehend that Floyd's success owes as much Wright's soundscapes as it does to Gilmour's talent and Waters lyrics and Agusa have not got there with En Annan Varid.

Sagrobus is an interesting composition that meanders through multiple phases with differing levels of intensity and effectively takes you on a 25 minute journey, taking you through contemplative flute led thoughts to almost jamming into a kind of jazz mix. The main issue is the lack of depth to the music but everything else is entirely awesome. The second track, Uppenbarelser, is far more experimental and moody which makes it less accessible but ultimately the superior piece of music that will provide more entertainment for much longer despite it being the shorter track at 21 minutes! I find this album entertaining and captivating without being quite complex enough. I would say that some more keyboard work to add some texture and perhaps even a couple of short vocal sections could really make this something extra special.

The sound quality is perfect for me and I especially love the less intrusive rhythm balance which allows me to focus on everything without ever needing to tune anything out. For those who need their music to go somewhere through evolution as well as the occasional Frippian leap then this stuff will meet your needs but for those who need full on guitar solos you are going to find En Annan Varid a little tame. I am a self-confessed guitar junkie but I started my prog journey with Floyd and Oldfield so can still appreciate fine progressive music that doesn't degenerate into an egotistical display of musicianship. So this is an album I am going to appreciate for many years to come and I will certainly be investing in more work from Agusa in the near future.

Music is about what you need as an individual and I still need this stuff in my life even if I am more likely to spin Opeth and Tool than Floyd and Agusa as I get older. Let's be straight, Agusa's work isn't quite there at those dizzy heights but it is certainly worth my time and money.