The Tower by Motorpsycho, from 2017, the first installment of a magnificent trilogy dedicated to the painter Hakon Gullvag (who also designed the album covers), Motorpsycho stated that Gullvag's paintings have often inspired their music, and for this reason they sought collaboration with the painter.
This is the Gullvag Trilogy:
The Tower (2017)
The Crucible (2019)
The All Is One (2020)
Speaking of The Tower, it's a double LP. It's about 85 minutes long, but it literally flies by:
Crank up the bass, turn up the volume, and enjoy that semi-distorted guitar with that underlying tremor. You'll always find it alongside those powerful bass lines and that chorus in the breaks, those keyboards and light flutes when needed, when the keyboards become choruses and the bass digs deep into the soul, giving life to magnificent symphonic rock.
A band completely outside the mainstream with a complex and sophisticated sound. A gigantic group, one of the greatest to have graced the music world in the last twenty years.
The artwork is beautiful, as can be seen in the four-panel, fold-out cover in the photo.
Of the ten tracks, two are short—"The Maypole" and "Stardust"—with acoustic atmospheres and a rock 'n' roll that may remind some of Led Zeppelin, but more sophisticated. Motropsyco's sounds are completely unique and instantly recognizable.
The other tracks last between seven and fifteen minutes, with psychedelic and space rock atmospheres, cosmic atmospheres, thunderous and captivating rides, long, virtuosic jams, and hypnotic atmospheres that together make up their signature style.
"A Pacific Sonata," the longest track, stands out for its almost entirely acoustic first part, which then transforms into an obsessive exercise in pure hypnosis with the repetition of the same theme, which makes it truly extraordinary.
Listen to Motorpsycho, they're a great band. Top album, but I still have to find one I don't like.
The Tracks
1."The Tower (incl. The Wishboner)" 8:44
2."Bartok of the Universe" 6:08
3."A.S.F.E" 6:53
4."Intrepid Explorer" 9:52
5."Stardust" 3:34
6."In Every Dream Home" (there's a dream of something else) 8:35
7."The Maypole (incl. Malibu and Stunt Road)" 3:39
8."A Pacific Sonata" 3.30pm
9."The Cuckoo" 7:29
10."Ship of Fools" 2.41pm
Duration: 84:52
Line-Up
Bent Sæther – bass, vocals, guitars, keyboards
Hans Magnus Ryan – guitars, vocals, keyboards
Tomas Järmyr – drums, percussion, vocals
With
Alain Johannes – vocals (3), messenger guitar (4, 7), cigar box guitar (4), flute (6)
