THE ALL IS ONE

MOTORPSYCHO is a Norwegian group known personally in 2010 so yesterday given their journey from the very beginning of the 90's. A stoner sound, pop, fruity, a bit crazy, in short eclectic. Progressive rock, alternative, folk, hard, jazzy, country to be honest, even punk and grunge at their beginnings, in short, unclassifiable. Progressive rock, psychedelic music and independent and alternative rock remaining the backbone; to note a progressive rock opera concept in 2012 and a collaboration with the Swedish guitarist Reine FISKE (LANDBERK, PAATOS). MOTORPSYCHO was originally formed by Bent SÆTHER, his progressive rock influences started to kick in and have remained present with sprawling psychedelic directions at this point. "The All is One" on a somewhat retro-progressive stoner tune, ZEPPELIN LED drums and rhythm, rock and psychedelic composition, all in the length with a certain monotony, YES-like sounds bring a little divine memory, the title thus changing atmosphere; final at the OLDFIELD, it starts heavy. "The Same Old Rock" starts off on progressive retro rock and its chorus with drenched percussions, the voice remaining very sharp, a little flute, the riff which denotes until the Howe solo and return to heavy rock, proto- heavy but catchy rock. "The Magpie" and its psyche atmosphere at the start then a journey on a rhythmic piece in two tones, bass forward to give the direction to take; we are far from prog; we get closer to the scent of MONSTER MAGNET, the incursions of ZAPPA, then those of AL DI MEOLA for a few moments; the guitar solo seems to come from a vintage 70s recording, astonishing; prog no longer has its raison d'etre, it's the notes that send us to it. "Delusion" calms the heat with a kitsch acoustic interlude and notes that resonate in our minds, we got a long way off there. So far after a few reads as is often the case with MOTORPSYCHO, the record is performing well. "N.O.X" in 5 variations for the astral journey of nearly 3/4 hours, timeless from "Circles Around the Sun, Pt. 1" departure with bells and violins then the dark atmosphere of the Scandinavian reliefs can be guessed; the progression is there, the wind instruments make the tempo mysterious, indecisive, latent as on the long pieces of THE DOORS, frightening, rising in strident maelstrom with a jazzy edge; you have to be used to uncompromising prog under penalty of astonishment, the violins duel for a symphonic finale of the most beautiful effect. "Ouroboros" arrives and changes the rhythm to train us on "Fragile" or certain arpeggios from "Close to the Edge"; a guitar now from the solo heard on "Encore" by TANGERINE DREAM, then YES again with a vintage organ, a long variation which can lead to a trance, be careful! A hellish groove, a paroxysmal rise, that's good with "Ascension" coming in and bringing some order to the scattered notes, a soaring interlude and a second part that goes up to an always moderate tempo. "Night of Pan" and that hypnotic tune, ah that tune, Brian ENO, Philip GLASS, an tune that chills your back, we're in the movie "Reality" from which you can't get out; a Dantesque symphonic post-rock canon, serious and soft choirs, it literally takes off around 7 minutes as with the long tirades of Klaus SCHULZE, drums come to lend a hand, the mellotron is not to be outdone, the trance surrounds you , you are no longer yourself !! I didn't want to write this column because I had listened to it a number of times before I was asked and I didn't want to explain the experiences of sound dematerialization that I had lived, too late I admit it here, I am lost in this maelstrom, it's just giant to believe that the end of the year will give even more musical pearls; a 10 for this dangerous piece, oh so pleasantly dangerous. A complex sequence that you have to listen to, a rise, a crescendo, a peak, what am I saying, Cyrano's nose, immense I tell you! The end starts with TANGERINE DREAM-style sequences like on "Sorcerer"; "Circles Around the Sun Pt.2" as the finale is even more apocalyptic; we find there the musical frenzy of CARAVAN or ANEKDOTEN, a little THE ENID in their extreme climbs, a little MAGMA there, it explodes, it squirts, it is moving, it's crazy, ecstasy is the. "N.O.X" was born out of a musical commission written for the St. Olav Festival performance. "A Little Light" comes out of this major piece with the damn acoustic interlude, two guitars that take the opportunity to tune your stereo on your speakers; finale with a mysterious synth that puts you back on the alert to announce "Dreams of Fancy" and a more rock track here, cool groove that is easier to access too; the less high-pitched voice can recall a little RUSH at times, we are still on an old sound however with bold and archaic riff; the violin solos quickly joined by those of the guitars gives an interesting scale. "The Dowser" for a little acoustic rhyme that rests again, to listen as "Horizons" after "Supper's Ready"! Finally comes "Like Chrome" and a bold title, the different voice drawing on that of Joe JACKSON and giving a more alternative rock sound; the instrumental part is detached from the verse-chorus with a heavy and heady sound to the ZEPPELIN LED as at the beginning. MOTORPSYCHO struck a big blow with the end of the Gullvåg trilogy which will have combed the covers of the albums; texts on alchemy, Tarot and painting, texts on social, political and environmental conflicts with which we live; in 30 years one would have thought that their genre and musical style had exhausted it; we clearly have here a vintage sound of the 70's boosted by the recording of the years 2030, a dantesque, bestial, spatial sound where time seems to stand still; a work beyond music, beautiful musical rock art. In short, and it's a pleasure a must of its kind.