Motorpsycho and Stale Storlokken - The Death Defying Unicorn (CD)

Aaaaaaaaaargh!!! Whoooo!! Holy shit am I glad to have this baby in the office finally. The weeks since I found out it was dropping have been sheer torture...to the point where I actually caved and ordered a copy to be shipped over from Germany, where it was released a little earlier. If you're not already familiar with these guys then you're in for a shock. In fact, even if you're already a die hard fan like me this'll still leave your jaw on the floor. 20 years into their career and riding the crest of their finest seam of form since the late '90s, Motorpsycho have teamed up with Elephant9's keys wizard Stale Storlokken to put together an epic (over 80 minutes!) nautical-themed rock opera featuring a 24-piece band comprised of the finest talents in Norwegian jazz. Boy have they risen to the challenge. Their most recent album 'Heavy Metal Fruit' was the first Motorpsycho release where they had a “proper” producer instead of doing it themselves with sometime-member Helge 'Deathprod' Sten, resulting in a beefy and epic space rock voyage which did indeed take their sound to the next level. This time around the genre-bending 'Psychos are knocking out a neoclassical jazz prog epic. Storlokken's arrangements take centre stage a lot of the time and are astonishing passages of atmospheric soundtracky strings and woodwind and brass, but when the barrelling tractor bass of Bent Saether comes grinding in you know you couldn't be listening to anybody but Motorpsycho. They even throw in a little recurring mellotron melody that originally occurred somewhere in the depths of their vast back catalogue (I think it's from the song 'Year Zero' but I don't have it to hand for checking purposes. There's plenty of heavy jazz-prog and neoclassical atmospherics for you to absorb here, as well as revisiting the opening rocker's melody with the most thunderously epic and joyous album closer you'll hear all year. Serious balls out shameless rock action like no other band on earth is capable of. If you like prog rock you need this album. It's as simple as that. I can't remember the last time I heard a rock album this grand and ambitious and complete. I can't find fault with it at all. Motorpsycho are among the most important bands on earth right now and it's a fucking travesty they're not huge here. If this isn't album of the week there is no justice in the world. Album of the year. Album of the fucking decade so far.