ALBUM REVIEW: Kingdom of Oblivion – Motorpsycho

Known for their hard rock and grunge tendencies since way back in the 90s, MOTORPSYCHO are here to continue putting European rock on the map. Kingdom Of Oblivion heralds a return to the riff-heavy Motorpsychoedelia of years past while looking forward to new unchartered territories. It’s a more varied album than previous offerings, and shows MOTORPSYHCO to be truly adept at different flavours of proggy-psych rock.

Things kick off with The Waning pts 1&2. Here we have vocal harmonies which smack of the Grateful Dead, a Wild West-sounding riff, and bundles of attitude. What’s immediately noteworthy is that the musicians opt to hold from the heavier, grungier, stoner sound of their past releases, something which pays off really well. The textures throughout the record are impressive and varied – the drum parts, the vocal harmonies, keyboards and quieter passages making for a more versatile sound.

Title track Kingdom of Oblivion is a mid-tempo number which packs a heavy punch in its dragging, pounding rhythm. Epic Norwegian sensibilities are put into play here throughout this pure hard rock record which elevates the sound to something akin to riding a motorbike down an open road. Lady May 1 points again towards the late 60s/70s hippy rock vibes, this time channelling SIMON & GARFUNKEL in gorgeous harmonies and minimalist production. This record could be one dusted off from an old crate box; it’s a treasure to have music being made like this today. It’s a rare moment of tranquillity on this album, something similar to the presence of Planet Caravan on BLACK SABBATH’s Paranoid; a welcome change in pace, a bit of breathing space before we return to the fray.

At 70 minutes long, it can’t be denied that this album somewhat outstays its welcome. IN classic MOTORPSYCHO fashion, quite a few of these songs are over six minutes long, and the effect is a somewhat wearying listening experience when trying to get through it all in one go. What saves it somewhat is that there is variety in this album, something which this band have struggled with a little bit in the past. Tracks like At Empire’s End illustrate this kind of stellar pacing that MOTORPSYCHO have managed to pull off in one track, an epic 8-minute track with ethereal vocals and over-the-top builds in production and instrumentation. It keeps the track from dragging, and it’s a tactic applied to the rest of the album.

A band whose discography is so huge and vast as MOTORPSYCHO needs something special to pull out of the bag on every subsequent offering to keep us interested. Kingdom of Oblivion isn’t perfect by any means, but it is surely worthy of a place, and for fun, heavy hard, psych-prog rock with a bit of an edge, you can’t do much better.

Rating: 9/10

Kingdom of Oblivion is set for release April 16th via Stickman Records. 

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