It’s been four years since I last reviewed an album by Germanic psychedelic trio The Spacelords, the esteemed editor having given judgement on their 2020 release (see Ave Noctum passim), so it will be interesting to discover how they have evolved over those years. Well, like the shark, The Spacelords have not had to change, having found their own perfect niche in the ecology of music, and ‘Unknown Species’ is a reflection of that.
Just three tracks make up this instrumental album, the first and shortest being ‘F.K.B.D.F’ and whilst barely a blink of the eye compared to what follows, it still stacks up at a more than respectable seven minute plus. That running time is made up of perhaps the most urgent beats and riffs on the release, as well as a comparatively simple structure, eschewing time changes to deliver a number that would be sure to have hair flying and flares flapping at a live show.
Title track ‘Unknown Species’ follows, and with over fourteen minutes to fill, as you might imagine there is more time to explore the sonic landscape that The Spacelords create. The track starts at a relatively slow pace, like the musical breakdown in an early seventies Pink Floyd number, the almost jangly sustain of the guitar harkening to the work Dave Gilmour of that aforementioned band. Halfway through, however, a new found urgency kicks in, the guitar licks being harder and heavier, with the bass and drums upping their power to match, and refusing to be pushed to the back as the music ebbs and flows in intensity before closing off with some full-on guitar hero theatrics.
The Spacelords leave their biggest until last with the frankly epic ‘Time Tunnel’, a number that starts with a simple lone plucked acoustic guitar accompanied by the sound of the tide before simple percussive beats join in, creating almost countrified sound. With a length of more than twenty minutes though, and the reputation of the band for Prog exploration, you can bet that doesn’t remain the only sound, the bass joining in as the drumming becomes more urgent and the plucking of unelectrified strings increases in tempo before mutating into heavy electrified riffs of ever-increasing stridency. Even that cannot last, and like the tide from the start ‘Time Tunnel’, the force retreats into some effects heavy noodling, a gentle relaxation that is itself in turn washed away by more thunderous beats, before the track comes full circle to finish on a single acoustic guitar, this time the sounds of waves being replaced by an echoing wind that seems to carry the music into the distance.
‘Unknown Species’ is not the music for those mass consumers of popular entertainment who insist on their play lists being filled with equally interchangeable and disposable three-minute portions. Instead it is for those who want to be taken on a musical voyage through the realms of inner and outer space, and this album is one that I’m sure will happily find a home on the shelves of many a listener alongside collections of the likes of Yes or Hawkwind. I only hope that should the band hit the UK their stage show will have the acid light show that their music deserves.
(8/10 Spenny)
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