Reviews MPCD106
Veteran spaced explorers deliver the right stuff in the middle of a plague. Roaring back to basics to keep charging forward, this Norwegian juggernaut — four albums, three of them doubles, just in the last five years — spent the summer of 2021 in an Oslo studio recording this spell of jagged-metal frenzy, acid-ballad chant and prog-epic ascent in live takes: a storming gig without a crowd. There are only four tracks but Motorpsycho — back in their original trio format of bassist Bent Sther and guitarist Hans Magnus Ryan with current drummer Tomas Jarmyr — go everywhere in them, at length. The Ladder is a high-speed spin cycle of switchback riffing and molten-fuzz soloing, King Crimson's Red taken for a ride by Rush; Mona Lisa/Azrael is druid-hymn suspense disrupted by airtight freakout. And Chariot Of The Sun (there is a lot of subtitle) justifies its 22 minutes in ghostly mood and spiral stomp — a trip that feels like it's over way too soon. 4/5.
David Fricke, Mojo (UK)
Expansive, experimental live-in-the-studio masterwork. Trondheim's Motorpsycho have been making eye-popping music since the 90s, with each album or EP more expressive than the last. It's hard to convey the enormity of their mix of prog and psychedelic rock, although something like 2016's Here Be Monsters is probably as good a place as any to start if you're looking to have your metaphorical lid flipped. Ancient Astronauts is a lockdown album like no other. It was originally devised in part for a piece by the Impure Dance Company, a few songs from which became the springboard for the AA album. The album comprises only four songs, one of which clocks in at 2:14 and another at 22:22, and it's magnificent, from full-blown fuzz-pedal rock monster to drones and shimmering interplay, highs and stupefying lows. As the PR says: "An explorative album without a whole lot of choruses!' 7/10.
Classic Rock (UK)
With more than 30 years of playing music under their collective belt and almost as many studio albums to their name, Motorpsycho's ongoing purple patch shows no signs of abating. Indeed, based on the evidence of Ancient Astronauts, this venerable Norwegian institution are unlikely to be blown off course any time, not least as they're going further into the reaches of the cosmos. Moreover, the album demands nothing less than total attention. Taken in a single sitting, the four-song Ancient Astronauts is an immersive experience that moves seamlessly through a variety of musical directions that alternately beguile, thrill and startle. That it does so without jarring is testament to the talent that beats at the trio's heart. Opener The Ladder is the closest Motorpsycho come to convention, but this is to judge them on their own terms. The template is prog metal that veers from one explosive section to the next. But it's the climactic Chariot Of The Sun - To Phaeton On The Occasion Of Sunrise (Theme From An Imagined Movie) where Motorpsycho triumph. A 22-minute journey that incrementally rises and falls, it captures the very essence of this visionary outfit.
Prog (UK)
Most of the music here originally comes from a dance piece inspired by Stravinsky's the Rite Of Spring - not that many would be able to discern the influence. The Norwegian psychedelic-prog trio recorded Ancient Astronauts live in the studio, adding overdubs, and like their concerts it's expansive in mood, particularly on 'Chariot Of The Sun', which builds from a pretty, wordless melody etched with glockenspiel, through relentless, hypnotic riffing and restless drumming, until Hans Magnus Ryan launches into some guitar skywriting. The excitement peaks on the intense, super-tight 'The Ladder' and on 'Azrael' with its thrilling, high-velocity polyrhythms.
Hi-Fi News (UK)
Musikalsk er dette bandet på sitt meste progga. Den majestetiske 12-minutteren «Mona Lisa/Azrael» kan tolkes som en hommage til King Crimsons «Starless», komplett med nydelig Mellotron-tema, klokkespill, gongong og dirrende Rhodes. Hans Magnus «Snah» Ryan utfolder seg inspirert på et hemningsløst midtparti som grenser opp til frijazz. Vilt ekstatisk, støyete, atonalt og deilig! Før temaet gjentas og utvikles i en hardere variant. Med «Chariot Of The Sun...» reiser de enda lenger ut i universet, kanskje helt til solens hjerte. Også denne er synth-tung og langstrakt (22 minutter), og med unntak av ordløs koring, helt instrumental. Det er deilig forløsende når låta - eller skal vi si verket - etter seks minut-ter går over i et tungt, hardt mollstemt parti, før de roer ned igjen og glir inn og ut av ulike tema med ambient preg. 5/6.
Adresseavisen (NO)
«Ancient Astronauts» viser et band som i stadig større grad stiger opp i kosmiske mytologier, noe også de mystiske fotografiene på omslaget tyder på.
For hvem kan seile uten kosmisk vind? De første minuttene av «Mona Lisa / Azrael» må være en av de vakreste balladene som Motorpsycho noen gang har lagd. Den starter opp med en nydelig Barclay James Harvest-aktig intro, med historiske ekko av symfonirockerne i Moody Blues - og med en
nordisklyrisk klingende folkemelodi i bunnen. Og så ville det vel ikke vært Motorpsycho om de ikke også føyde til et viltvoksende rocketema etter hvert, slik at sangen til slutt strekker seg mot elleve minutter, inkludert en stillere, lett stakkato utgang. Det er derfor ganske mange av oss beundrer dette bandet. Fordi hver eneste utgivelse som regel holder mål opp mot deres egne standarder, samtidig som den voksende katalogen ligner et stadig større landskap som avdekkes, full av nye detaljer. Lik en hemmelighetsfull hage som er mye større enn du først tror, som et fjell som vokser mens du bestiger det. Det skummelt skimrende, eksperimentelle lydsporet «The Flower Of Awareness» varer bare i drøyt to minutter. Den avsluttende «Chariot Of The Sun» er mer enn ti ganger så lang. Begge deler er essensen av et av Norges fineste og mest konsistente band. 5/6.
Klassekampen (NO)
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