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Translation into english from dutch by deepl:
Motorpsycho – The All Is One
Written by Dypfrys on 28-08-2020 at 18:50.
Motorpsycho has album twenty-two on offer. The All Is One is the last part of the "Gullvåg Trilogy", which includes The Tower and The Crucible. Motorpsycho is an unpredictable band, that's the only predictable one. The psychedelic fusion extends over a wide musical landscape. The album comes out as a double LP/CD. Considering the playing time of 84 minutes, that's no wonder. Actually, the album consists of two separate albums, one of which is placed in the middle of the other in the playlist. The middle part is called N.O.X., which is Latin for night.
I'm quite a fan of The Death Defying Unicorn myself, but we don't hear much of the heavy scandipsych/stoner on that album here. On the outer part of the album I mainly hear Blissard, with quite witty songs in a psychedelic atmosphere. Effectiveness comes first, and in that you also hear more modern work like The Motorpnakotic Fragments. Calm, direct songs like Dreams of Fancy and The Same Old Rock (One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy), which seem to flirt with country singer-songwriters and a band like The Eagles, turn out to be songs full of character. The vocals are well known by now, but sometimes hang a bit towards the somewhat irritating nasal American accent. When the country takes the upper hand, I think that's an advantage. On Delusion (The Reign of Humbug) you hear a lot of consonants (the 's' and 't'), which because of the condenser microphone emphasizes a bit too much. The minimal magical tones are reminiscent of Kayak, especially in combination with the cautious vocals. A lot of 70's rock in the style of Blue Öyster Cult can also be heard, and the almost spiritual guitar licks and the cymbal-rich drumming make things float. The delicacy and vocal/fuzzy outbursts shoot past each other. The All is One, The Magpie and Like Chrome represent the heavier side of this piece.
In the middle of this album, full of songs with the consolidated Motorpsycho sound, N.O.X. is shining. An (almost) instrumental Zappian piece full of jazzy jams and spacing fusion. Motorpsycho is known for his experimentalism, but this is a bridge further. Lars Horntveth (bandleader of JagaJazzist) and Ola Kverberg, a jazz violinist, have drummed up to come and help. For a one-off performance these musicians and Motorpsycho met each other. The collaboration was so good that it would come to this album. For almost forty minutes the band jams the stars of heaven. N.O.X. III Ascension is a highlight with spacey post-rock, a runaway saxophone amidst resonating harmonics and minimal ride-attacks. The initial spacey keyboard bleep behind it completes the atmosphere. The placement in the tracklist is magnificent, just after the festive schizophrenic N.O.X. II – Ouroboros (Strange Loop), and then all of a sudden that hovering peace… What a transition, and what an atmosphere! Awesome. Also the eclectic and dynamic N.O.X. IV Night of Pan knows how to fascinate. Reine Fiske can still show up here, like he did before in 2013 and 2014, to touch the guitar. Here the music is ritual and religious, and always ends in nightly dreams/nightmares. Grab the echoing vocals and you've got the recipe for waking up bathed in sweat.
I won't do it to you to dissect all the songs. That would be madness besides. It's 80 minutes asking to be played over and over again. For me personally the experimental N.O.X. middle piece was a very pleasant experience. The band reinvents itself with it. In a way which is very different, yet very individual. The other forty minutes have more the character of a focused album, that typically brings everything from Motorpsycho together. The song structures are more effective there. The result is that the songs are easier to grasp. Actually there are three parts to discover here: the heavy stoner work, the lighter country work, and the spacing jam work. All three times the band knows how to keep on captivating, with delicate string work and extraordinarily precise, sensitive drumming. That combination of fantastic instrument control, the variety and artistic freedom makes The All Is One yet another masterpiece.
Score:
85/100
Translated into english from dutch by deepl:
August 25, 2020 by Luke Peerdeman
Where are today's bands venturing into imperfect, boisterous works that make their way into the unknown? Does every artist prefer the small to the big? Is all music today screened with perfect practice? No, fortunately the answer is yes. There is still that Norwegian name that once again comes up with a grand, searching record.
After all, if a band has delivered explorative music over the past three decades, it is Motorpsycho. Although the guys on their debut album mainly made metal, genres like prog, post and psychedelic rock have become an increasingly important part of the sound. The fusion of these elements almost resembles alchemy. It is therefore not surprising that this proto-scientific theory turns out to be a thematic inspiration. In short, alchemy assumes that elements can mutate into other (purer) elements and in a similar way Motorpsycho combines the exuberance of the 70's and the rawness of the 90's to an ultimate adventurousness. After all, floating, pushing arrangements are given several minutes to sound increasingly immense. With some turbulence we tear ourselves to a point beyond the horizon.
It should come as no surprise that the heart of this album is formed by a long epic: the over forty minutes long N.O.X. This time, however, the song is more psychedelic and hypnotic of nature, which resembles a rougher Hawkwind. Moreover, the five-part epic seems to have an almost fractal structure: they are circles, within circles, within circles. In this way, Circles Around The Sun opens with a spinning bass melody in which the tones become more and more out of tune. This melody eventually transforms into a drunken diagonal march. On Ouroboros (Strange Loop) we again find a rhythmic whirlpool, in which the melodies are almost funky this time. The conclusion is stately and ecstatic. After a relatively short transition we arrive at the 15 minute climax: Night Of Pan. The tuning is initially restrained – almost whispering even – after which a Nils Frahm-like organ part slumbers in and the bass guitar continues the tension unabated. Guitars growl dangerously. Then a delightful, infinitely touching build-up begins. More and more we lose ourselves in the unknown. Tempestuous, restless tones make the listener yearn for salvation. Although the band, out of barbarism, throws open the song with jazzy keyboards, the bass keeps tightening the thumbscrews. The return to Circles Around The Sun emphasises that the immense build-up has only resulted in a circle around the audio church. No problem! When the music is so good, I start again with love.
Besides this epic, the band also offers some pleasant short(er) compositions. Opening song The All Is One is a pleasant doormat for this record. A nice rousing rhythm and a summery arrangement grab the attention. The screeching guitars and explosive drums provide excitement and on top of that, the Mellotron fans out beautifully. The Magpie then has a hushed beginning that flows into folky guitar plucking. A frivolous melody, however, accelerates the pace, which gives the warm tones a spice and makes the song feel blissful. Finally, Dreams Of Fancy contains pastoral Mellotron parts that move dreamily. Here, too, the tempo goes up, although the build-up meanders, making this composition an appealing resting point.
All in all, "The All is One" contains raw yet exuberant music. Compared to its predecessors, this record is less heavy. The rhythms are looser, the arrangements sunnier and the sounds more psychedelic. The album is nevertheless a logical successor to The "Crucible" and "The Tower". On the one hand this is positive, but on the other hand the surprise seems to go off a bit. However, this little critique doesn't hurt much, as these musicians consistently deliver quality and the music remains like a house.
Like good alchemists, these gentlemen still turn heavy metals into gold. Although the somewhat rough style seems to have lost its shine, this does not detract from the fact that every song convinces. Pleasant melodies and exuberant arrangements search the limelight again. The result may be called one of the highlights of 2020.
Translation into english from dutch by deepl:
Motorpsycho – The All Is One
Format: CD – LP – Digital / Label: Stickman Records – Rune Grammophon
Release: 2020
Text: Paul Op den Kamp
As of today (August 28th) the new album of Motorpsycho is in the store. It was actually the intention to release the album in the spring. But also for the Norwegian band Covid-19 meant a total revolution in planning. A few more months but now 'The All Is One' can be shown to the world.
Somewhere ironic how much the musical content fits the messy days of today. The blistering whirlpool of rock, jazz and post-rock as the imagination for the unrest and resistance that lives in society. Precisely at the moment when there is more resistance against the various measures that governments have proclaimed to curb the virus, an album is the musical interpretation.
Or as the band writes on their website: 'These songs have no thematic through-line, but they all sort of fit into the conceptual continuity that our last few albums seem to have been a part of. They all seem to have dealt with living in a much more polarized society than before, and with the loss of faith in democracy and in civic institutions that the countries of the world all seem to be going through'.
For anyone who just wants to disappear into music for a while in order to enjoy some thematic content, it's great to get lost. In the different layers you can see various influences. The Gothic of The Cure, Joy Division of Siouxsie and The Banshees. The psychedelic confusion of Pink Floyd. In one way or another, the way the songs always fan out to a different atmosphere also reminds of Mike Oldfield.
Intentional or unintentional, the album accompanies these days of virus, election and confusion. In any case, it is a very strong soundtrack. One of those albums that already deserves a place in the year-end lists.
Translation into English from German by deepl:
Motorpsycho
The All Is One
Highlights: N.O.X. II: Ouroboros (Strange Loop) // Dreams Of Fancy
Genre: Progrock // Psychedelic // Jazz
Sounds Like: Dungen // Jaga Jazzist // Black Mountain
By Benjamin Köhler
3/5
Okay, after 30 years of band history and over 20 albums, what do you still want to write about Motorpsycho? Maybe we start with the hard facts about the new album: "The All Is One" is the final part of an unofficial trilogy called "Gullvåg" after "The Tower" and "The Crucible". The new record has a playing time of 84 minutes and the central part is the 45(!)-minute monumental piece "N.O.X.", consisting of five tracks. All songs were recorded last year between September and November, which is hard to grasp given the sheer length and complexity.
All in all, it sounds like a heavy chunk and is one, too – not surprisingly. And that's exactly the crux of the latest Motorpsycho output. You reckon with overflowing and intricate material and then you get exactly that. This may be satisfying for the fan, but it also eliminates the surprise effect. That sounds incredibly paradoxical in view of an epic jam like "N.O.X.". After all, something unforeseen happens here every minute. But that's exactly the point: The unexpected has become expectable. In this respect, Motorpsycho have outmaneuvered themselves a bit. It's a bit unfair to criticize the Norwegians like this, after all the band is still more creatively on the road after all these years than 99% of the rest of the music scene and furthermore has a work ethic that is second to none. Therefore "The All Is One" of course deserves a sober album review.
"N.O.X." is the central star of the record and Motorpsycho really do have everything in their extensive repertoire: Freejazz passages, epic sound surfaces, strings, synthesizers in full ecstasy, even choirs join in this (controlled?) madness. It is perhaps the piece of the discography so far which comes closest to a live experience of Motorpsycho. The song monolith is framed by the remaining tracks of the record.
The title track is the beginning and at the same time almost the blueprint of a typical song of the trio from Trondheim – a catchy basic melody, which is decorated with all kinds of bridges and solos. Somewhat more reduced are "The Same Old Rock (One Must Imagine Sisyphus)" and "The Magpie" in the following. Two almost straight rock songs. But they can also write Motorpsycho. If they want. With the soft acoustic ballad "Delusion (The Reign Of Humbug)", it then goes over to the heavyweight with the three letters.
Anyone who still has some air left after that can look forward to the strongest song on the album, "Dreams Of Fancy". Hans Magnus Ryan unpacks here once again an inimitable riff, which is wonderfully underlined by strings. The final track "Like Chrome" is similarly successful, which leads "The All Is One" to a worthy end. But what does end mean with Motorpsycho? Probably the band is already sitting in the studio again at this moment and is preparing at least the next three records. Maybe they will manage to surprise a little bit more then again.
Translation into English from German by deepl:
Motorpsycho – The All Is One
By Raphael Lukas Genovese on August 28, 2020
(84:47, 2LP, 2CD, Digital, Stickman Records / Noisolution / Soulfood, 2020)
Motorpsycho from Trondheim in Norway finish their Gullvåg trilogy with the present album "The All is One". The previous albums "The Tower" (2017) and "The Crucible" (2019) already won the award #TeapotOfTheWeek. So the expectations for part three of the saga are naturally high.
And indeed, the three Norwegians have come up with something very special for the last part of the journey. As usual, the extravagant and extremely talented artist Håkon Gullvåg was responsible for the cover design. What is inside the cover is much more than just an album. The third part of the Gullvåg trilogy "The All is One" (LP page 1 and 4) is on a double CD or double LP. It includes the colorful journey to distant galaxies "N.O.X. ∞", which fills pages 2 and 3 with about 24 minutes playing time.
Both in terms of content and sound, "N.O.X. ∞" literally stands out from the main work "The All is One". The title-giving work is determined by progressive, psychedelic and sophisticated rock music with a lot of blues and some jazz in the luggage. The inserted journey to the middle of the double album becomes a multi-instrumental excursion into fields of space rock, acid, jazz and atmospheric sound art. Completely in the sign of the infinity one moves here in circles and spirals. Accordingly, the choice of titles falls on circles that move around the sun, the snake 'Ouroboros' or loops that bite its own tail.
Surprisingly, neither compass nor GPS are needed to navigate the very stubborn constellation of styles and concepts. "The All is One" and "N.O.X. ∞" can be listened to both individually and together as a complete work. Bent Sæther (vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, drums), Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan (guitar, vocals, keyboards, mandolin, violin, bass) and Tomas Järmyr (drums, vocals) manage to present complex processes and structures in such a way that they delicately pamper the ear.
The trio is supported on the almost one and a half hour long piece by Ola Kvernberg (Steamdome), Lars Horntveth (Jaga Jazzist, Amgala Temple) and Reine Fiske.
What Motorpsycho have delivered here is without doubt art. Not only has the Gullvåg trilogy received an absolutely worthy conclusion with "The All is One". At the same time, the included album "N.O.X. ∞", the included album will directly start the next journey, which will not stop at infinity.
Motor Psycho stimulates each synapse individually and the whole body as a whole. Every tone, every harmony, every beat sits exactly where it belongs, to pamper the senses holistically and completely. "The All is One" manages to animate body and mind to the maximum with even the softest of tones.
Rating: 15/15 points
Translation into English from German by deepl:
Motor Psycho – The All Is One
Review
At least in their home country Norway, MOTORPSYCHO have long since achieved a certain legendary status. A top 10 chart position is guaranteed here with every new album. The state museum for the appreciation and documentation of Norway's popular musical heritage "Rockheim" now lists MOTORPSYCHO in its Hall of Fame in a row with A-HA. No, MOTORPSYCHO do not have to prove anything to anyone anymore. And that makes their continued eagerness to work while maintaining the consistently high quality of their output all the more amazing. Where other bands from much less complex subgenres have long since abandoned the good old two-year rhythm for releases, MOTORPSYCHO has something new to offer almost every year. In 2019, "The Crucible" almost reached the metal.de high score in 2019. Can "The All Is One" continue there?
"The All Is One" takes its time
Where "The Crucible" celebrated the prog in all its impudence last year with only three extra-long tracks on 40 minutes, "The All Is One" increases the tracklist, but reduces the playing time only to a limited extent. The result is a beaten one and a half hour of searching and finding between sophisticated pop music, folk, jazz and unheaded prog rapture.
"The All Is One" starts once again on the tracks of the BEATLES and melancholic pop moments of a STEVEN WILSON. Later on, gypsy strings and DYLAN moments, flutes and vocal harmonies follow, reminiscent of JETHRO TULL and, in the more threatening moments, of the folk-prog OPETH albums of the last decade (see track number five).
At MOTORPSYCHO, quantity does not come at the expense of quality
Towards the middle of the album, "All Is One" turns into a five-part prog excursion including long, cryptic titles and with the greatest possible renunciation of vocals. Masterful and completely natural, MOTORPSYCHO lured the listener from the quite accessible album entry into this hypnotic sound thicket of psychedelic pop, herb and more.
The ecstatic finale of "Circles Around The Sun Pt 2" is followed by an acoustic relaxation break with "A Little Light", which introduces the home stretch of "The All Is One". MOTORPSYCHO end the journey where it began about 90 minutes ago: At the place of perfect pop-prog harmony. This band can do almost everything. Even in the rhythm of the year.
Google Translation of http://puls.no/18023.html
Motorpsycho pushes all boundaries – even their own
I am extremely opposed to championships in the world of music. But this must be the top in Norwegian rock, so far – after 60 years. But fortunately we have many years ahead of us.
By Arild Rønsen // 28.08.20
Motorpsycho lives in its own world, and thank you for that. They give a damn about what the music is called. More and more in their long careers, they only play their own music. Without squinting at either genre.
To put it bluntly: in "Night of Pan" they have stolen the entire riff from Paul Simon's "Late in the Evening" – and further away from Simon & Garfunkel in the musical expression it is difficult to get? There really is a long way to go between Paul Simon and Motorpsycho.
"Night of Pan" is located in the middle of a more than 40-minute suite called "N.O.X.", distributed on each side of the double CD edition. In addition to the trio that makes up the regular band, both Ola Kvernberg (violin) and Lars Horntvedt (keys) are credited as songwriters. I have trouble describing the musical content – other than that this is literally electrically good!
They call one of the songs "The Same Old Rock". But this is actually no longer the same. Everything sounds brand new. Even if they stand on the shoulders of their ancestors. Is it progrock? Yes, that's it. Could Motorpsycho have made this album if Genesis had not come up with "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" 45 years ago? Hardly.
Yet this is something completely different. Motorpsycho are experimental, just like Genesis was then. But Motorpsycho is much more experimental than Peter Gabriel was in the mid-seventies. Genesis functioned in a musical landscape where this was legal, daring – yet far into the inner core of the straight pop audience. Those who liked Supertramp and 10CC, usually also liked Genesis, Yes and King Crimson.
That is not the case today. There is a long way between young people who like Beyoncé, and at the same time are a fan of Motorpsycho. But maybe there are many who like the advanced pop composer Sondre Lerche who also loves Motorpsycho? I think so. At least I hope so.
Motorpsycho challenges you as a listener. Consistent. All the time. If you ask me, the band should be invited to play during the official opening when the restored organ in Notre Dame is to be inaugurated.
Anyone who walks untouched from the meeting with "The All Is One" should take a deep breath and think – where do I really stand, in this life?
So good is Motorpsycho.
Yes, what a perfect ending of the concert and the tour!
And yes, I also miss the wall of (water)sound (sorry 😉).
