Norway's Motorpsycho are another one of those bands who have been around for ages but seem to be releasing some of their strongest material in recent years. Ancient Astronauts is their latest album in a long career that goes back 30+ years, and continues a strong series of recordings that kicked into high gear with 2017's The Tower and hasn't looked back. Describing the music of Motorpsycho is always a challenging task, as their music incorporates elements of progressive rock, folk, psychedelia, alternative, and stoner rock, with Ancient Astronauts once again incorporating all of that and more through its four song and 44-minute runtime.
"The Ladder" kicks things off in upbeat, high energy and quirky prog rock fashion, fat bass lines, keys, and intricate guitar patterns all driving this fun yet hard rocking track, before we move into the brief atmospheric instrumental "The Flower of Awareness". Bent Sæther's fragile vocals lead us into the 12-minute "Mona Lisa/Azrael", complemented by lush guitar picking and gentle drums before the haunting Mellotron signals the arrival of faster paced and frenetic arrangements, which included King Crimson inspired guitar shards, bulbous bass, and intricate drumming. An excellent track that shows how well this band can slowly build tension and bombast. The listener is then treated to the mammoth epic, the 22-minute "Chariot of the Sun�"To Phaeton On The Occasion Of Sunrise (Theme From An Imaginary Movie)", the band incorporating classic Norwegian prog as well as early Krautock and avant-garde styles, another wonderful slow building piece that sees guitar, bass, and drums all weaving around each other in dazzling fashion, with keyboards adding a dramatic backdrop.
While it might be said that Ancient Astronauts is more about experimentation rather than a collection of songs, and that might be true to an extent, what's on display here is breathtaking music and shows the creativity of this band is really peaking at this time. Motorpsycho have once again knocked it out of the park, and are now sitting at the top of the Norwegian prog/psych scene. Ancient Astronauts is not to be missed folks!
Track Listing
1. The Ladder
2. The Flower Of Awareness
3. Mona Lisa/Azrael
4. Chariot Of The Sun�"To Phaeton On The Occasion Of Sunrise (Theme From An Imaginary Movie)
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
