MOTORPSYCHO & STÅLE STORLØKKEN: THE DEATH DEFYING UNICORN

After Little Lucid Moments Motorpsycho has been pumping out hit after hit in the realm of their new found prog tendencies. However, it goes without saying that their magnum opus, the highest peak they reach in their prog rock ideals, comes in the form of a very strange, beautiful, intense, and highly magical album that is best described within the subtitle: "A FANCIFUL AND FAIRLY FAR-OUT MUSICAL FABLE". This is The Death Defying Unicorn, the album that really gave Motorpsycho the big splash they needed within the prog rock community, highlighting that they aren't just a rock band that dabbles in prog rock, but also bathe in it.

This is a collaborative album the band did with the Norwegian jazz and classical composer Ståle Storløkken. This collaborative work makes this album feel more tight knit since without the help of Ståle, this would not reach the same highs as it does in its current state, because this is some stellar music to be found here.

This feels like one big progressive rock epic with each track weaving around each other, like a moving gyroscope. There will always be a returning leitmotif or theme within this record that will be explored later on, and as someone who is a sucker for leitmotifs with my track record of being a fan of Undertale and Deltarune and other Toby Fox works, hearing these returning and winding themes always brings an intense joy within my heart that I cannot describe. This truly feels like a movie, with moments of fairly Disney-like romanticism with intense moments of avant-prog tendencies, like a bizarre, almost The Flyesque fusion between the jazz workings of Frank Zappa, the highly magical sounds of Renaissance, the bizarre wildness of The Cardiacs, and a good sprinkling of the more gothic prog orientation of Anglagard, and that is barely scratching the surface of the variety of sounds this album holds. Sometimes you might get very Swans-like post rock with tracks like La Lethe, or moments that feel very much like Soft Machine. This is, by definition, the most varied prog rock album I have ever heard, and no track feels out of place. Motorpsycho and Ståle Storløkken work in tandem with each other as they play this giant epic of prog proportions. It is just one of my favorites in this strange niche of more contemporary prog.

The story here is also fantastic in my opinion. It tells the journey of a poacher, who becomes a cabin boy for a crew that wishes to explore the hollow lands, with each song being a new encounter that winds and twists the mortal coils that dawn on the poacher. It is this almost lovecraftian epic that I cannot help but adore, especially within the movement between Oh Proteus - A Prayer through Oh Proteus - A Lament. It all just works in tandem with the music, and I just cannot help but adore it.

I think the album's magnificent three piece closure of Sharks, Mutiny!, and Into The Mystic just makes this album more of a masterpiece than it already is for me, just how it loops back to the beginning, almost symbolizing that many more have been through the journey in the hollow lands many times before, and will continue afterwards. It is just a fine closure within the inherent epicness this album exudes, and for that, I cannot help but rank this any less than a five out of five.

If you want a very grand, beautiful, and highly varied prog rock work, stop what you're doing and listen to this album. It is one of those albums that keeps on giving with highly magical movements that take you on a trip through an extremely wild adventure that makes you want to come back for more. This album truly defies death, no matter how you scratch it.