Motorpsycho
The Crucible

Foreword: I am about to review an album by Motorpsycho, about whom I know nothing except that they are Norwegian. In the mid-nineties, a CD passed through my hands which I did not listen to, thinking that behind that name was yet another garage band, a genre experiencing a substantial revival at the time.

The fact of wanting to write a review without knowing anything about their discography is certainly an act of presumption, but it is also a naivety from which analyses may arise that might elude fans and insiders.

Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away...

...it's the distant December of 1973 and the Norwegians Motorpsycho have just signed a contract with Manticore Records, the record label owned by Emerson Lake and Palmer, an extraordinary label that roams the most remote regions of the European continent in search of new Progressive talents.

The Vikings of Prog (so dubbed by Ciao2001 in the January 1974 issue) are recording “The Crucible” at record speed. It is a Long Playing destined to become one of the Pillars of Progressive Rock, alongside Red by King Crimson, Close to the Edge by Yes, and Trilogy by the aforementioned ELP.

Despite coming from distant Scandinavia, the trio demonstrates that they've absorbed and originally reworked the lesson of the British Masters, etc., etc., etc...

...and instead we are in 2019, since the mid-'80s Global Warming has galloped forward and now in Throndheim, cherry trees bloom in March...

Motorpsycho - “The Crucible,” or the Crucible, is a Bignami of Prog: 3 pieces in 40 minutes structured like a Relayer in reverse. You can find King Crimson from Lark’s and Red in the first track "Psychotzar." ELP in the second piece "Lux Aeterna." The Yes of the Golden Era in the concluding "The Crucible."

What astounds about Motorpsycho is their mastery of the styles and influences cited. We are in a constant Déjà vu which, nonetheless, has a freshness that one wouldn't expect from these philological revisitations. The Triumph of the Verisimilar.

Question: Are we faced with a Masterpiece of Musical Mannerism or are we in Groundhog Day?