[Punj Lizard]

I'm trying to get a handle on this "5hrs" claim. I realise that includes breaks between the sets, but does anybody have timings for each set?

[Punj Lizard]

@ supernaut

IMS = Inner Mounting Shame. One of my favourites of their little wordplay jokes – a nod to Mahavishnu Orchestra.

[Punj Lizard]

According to posts/comments on Facebook, the show was recorded and filmed. Apparently the band were also working with De Utvalgte on their latest collaboration. And … they have allegedly started recording a new album at a studio in Oslo (that belongs to DumDum Boys – I guess some of you will know of it).

[Punj Lizard]

Bloody hell!!! That is amazing. It must have been an incredible experience. Congratulations to all those who were there. I wonder if Ancient Astronauts and Azrael are the Nylang songs by different names.

[Punj Lizard]

Thanks Johnny H.

[Punj Lizard]

Thank you so much Terje and Bernie.

[Punj Lizard]

@ suntripper – I agree, Snah's songs are beautiful and a lovely contrast to Bent's. I believe The Light Fantastic was a "leftover" from the Crucible sessions, but some or much of it (without the vocals) was before that part of the Begynnelser soundtrack.

[Punj Lizard]

I wonder if some of the new material has been composed with the Hooman Sharifi/Impure Company collaboration in mind.

[Punj Lizard]

I've been checking out how Kingdom of Oblivion is faring over on ProgArchives. This website has an obvious focus (it's in the name!) but includes many bands/artists that wouldn't necessarily be labelled 'prog'. In general, when any album is released it tends to gain a highish rating as fans of the band flock to give it four or five stars, but over time the rating drops, sometimes quite rapidly, depending on the number of people who acquire it and rate it. This is true for Motorpsycho as for any band. For example, 7 months ago, following the release of The All Is One, that album had an average rating of 4.13, which has now fallen to 4.05. Kingdom Of Oblivion has maintained a high rating so far, though I do expect it to continue dropping. Here are the average ratings (and the number of ratings) for the top-rated Motorpsycho albums, as of today:

Title – Average rating (number of ratings posted)

Kingdom of Oblivion – 4.23 (56)

The Death Defying Unicorn – 4.18 (488)

In the Fishtank – 4.11 (100)

Trust Us – 4.09 (101)

The All Is One – 4.05 (145)

Phanerothyme – 4.05 (122)

Behind the Sun – 4.00 (335)

The Tower – 4.00 (239)

NB: The number of ratings is a fair indication of how popular an album has become among prog fans – as we can see, The Tower was rated by 239 people, compared with In The Fishtank, which was rated by only 100 people. This suggests The Tower was a more popular album among prog fans, but that In The Fishtank was rated higher by the smaller number of people that heard it.

Ultimately, of course this is all pretty insignificant, but I find it interesting to see how MP fare among the wider prog community even though they only make up a fraction of MPs fans.

Here's a link to Motorpsycho's page on ProgArchives:

Motorpsycho at ProgArchives

[Punj Lizard]

@Elvin – I love that chapter by Geb. One of my favourites in the book. He's so straightforward and doesn't pull punches. Personally I like BH/BC a lot – both discs. As for TM etc., I was, of course, just having a laugh, but also I guess trying to point out that some people might actually find the later albums fine but the earlier ones overdone – in some respects it's just a matter of personal taste.

[Punj Lizard]

I love what Geb wrote in his piece on Black Hole / Blank Canvas for the Supersonic Scientists book. It could be relevant to any of their albums:

Quote:

But damn it – can't they ever try brevity? I'm left with a feeling of exhaustion; this is just way too much motorpsychosis for me. It sounds like the box set version of Black Hole / Blank Canvas, with every outtake and demo they had lying about. The box set that should've come out years later. I can imagine a 40 minute version of this album – a stone cold classic. But that just wouldn't be Motorpsycho.

[Punj Lizard]

Is anybody here ready to start talking about all the filler on Demon Box, Timothy's Monster, Blissard, AADAP, and Trust Us? I mean, how much better would TM have been if it was just Giftland, Watersound, The Wheel, Sungravy, and The Golden Core? All the rest of the stuff could then have just been released on EPs every month or two. How does that sound? Yep … sounds like the worst idea ever doesn't it. :twisted: :lol: :lol:

[Punj Lizard]

I’ve held back a while before sharing my thoughts on this album, simply because, as others have said, it pays to give a new MP album some time to sink in. Furthermore, in this particular case, I really have had trouble making my mind up about it.

Although it’s been widely reported as a rock album punctuated by some folk(y) tunes, to me it could quite as easily be a folk album punctuated by some rock tunes. So here we are again with another Motorpsycho album that defies pigeonholing, another Motorpsycho album that contains tunes that could be categorized as belonging to various genres – just like Demon Box, Timothy’s Monster, Blissard and more. Moreover, the album, to my ears, definitely does not feel stuck in the same space as the Gullvag trilogy; it sounds like something different, something new to me.

Prior to the album’s release, and for some while now, I expressed how much I’d like to see Motorpsycho put out something that mixes acoustic folk with electric rock – something along the lines of Led Zeppelin III, After the Goldrush, Rust Never Sleeps, If I Could Only Remember My Name, Déjà Vu – and here we are with Kingdom of Oblivion, which perfectly fulfils that wish. However, I am yet to feel the disparate tracks fit together as a cohesive whole – in my listening there’s still a little dissonance between the Black Box tracks and the Kommun tracks. Slowly, though, they approach each other in the space between my ears and become less and less like two albums mashed together. Gradually, they take on the appearance of one.

And gradually I become more and more appreciative of each track. Strangely, though, it is the one track I expected to be an immediate winner (The Transmutation of Cosmoctopus Lurker) that has become the last to really grab me. This is probably due to the prog-metal-style soloing and because this is perhaps the track that, to my cloth ears, suffers worst from the lack of dynamics. In fact the lack of dynamics (a subject for which I don’t really have the technical knowledge but which I feel when I listen) is the only issue I have with the album, but it’s a serious issue and I hope they never go that way again.

As for the soloing, as usual with Snah, even when he plays in the style of another genre, or even another guitarist, it’s just Snah widening his palette and in the end, all I hear is the Snah essence behind it all – the divine Snah Godhead shining through. 😊

All in all this has been a harder album for me to get into than any of the three previous studio outings, but that’s not a problem, just a challenge and one I’m happy to take on – I mean, who among us wouldn’t be pleased to have to suffer a challenging MP album? 😉

Favourite tracks (at the moment): Kingdom Of Oblivion; Lady May; At Empire’s End; The Hunt

[Punj Lizard]

Quote:

the solo comes some way close to Dream Theater

Yeah, this is a real shame as far as I'm concerned. I can't stand those types of solos – all notes and no soul. It's off-putting to hear Snah play like that and making it harder for me to get into the Lurker.

EDIT: OK, I've listened to this a couple more times and, as stated, the solo comes some way close to DT, but – ever so thankfully – doesn't reach there. I'm finally beginning to open to this track and discover its delights.

[Punj Lizard]

@ GBD Thanks. That Dagsavisen review is great

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