Review Summary: A near-essential journey of the Motorpsycho club!
Motorpsycho is a Norwegian rock band formed in Trondheim in 1989. The band's lineup has undergone several changes over the years, but during the release of "Angels and Daemons at Play" in 1997, the core members were Bent Sæther, Hans Magnus "Snah" Ryan, and Håkon Gebhardt.
The band's ability to blend various musical genres, including progressive rock, psychedelic, and alternative rock seamlessly makes this release engaging and exciting throughout its 56 minute runtime. “Walking on the Water” is a driving pop-rock anthem that delivers a catchy hook that will be an earworm the rest of the week. “Heart Attack Mac” is a punchy grunge-inspired tune featuring some excellent riffage and grating vocals that work hand in hand in the best of ways.
“In the Family” is an early highlight of the album displaying a catchy riff filled with syncopation and unease until the chorus comes blasting in featuring the soaring vocals of Saether. The band spaces out over the fourteen minute runtime of the next track entitled “Un Chien D’espace”. The song toes the line of progressive rock and psychedelia quite nicely and has a fitting build that winds its way across a wash of musical landscapes before collapsing inward at the end with frantic riffs and drums smashing every which way until the fadeout.
The album takes a dip in quality for the back half with “Sideways Spiral II” being an exercise in patience as Saether screams out “spiral” a seemingly infinite amount of times before the song comes to a jarring halt. The following four tracks range between pop-rock jams tinged with indie tones to restrained acoustic numbers with soft vocal deliveries and competent harmonies that are both raw and poignant.
Although this album does not reach the heights of its predecessor, Timothy’s Monster, it would be a disservice to ignore it entirely when exploring the subtle magic that is the oft-overlooked early-career Motorpsycho.
