Shame on the author once again, because it was only in 2010 when he came along the prog masters and songwriters from Motorpsycho. Heavy Metal Fruit is sometimes titled as a longer EP, a huge understatement considering the deepness and the length of over 60 minutes playtime.
Their latest release The Death Defying Unicorn from 2012 (featuring Ståle Storløkken) is still too epic for the author to review, although the main reason why he writes this review is the proggy, jazzy and spacy groove that the Norwegians display in this great work. The journey ironically starts with silence, slowly filled with silent guitar sounds before starting with a huge and warm melody joined by psychedelic vocals and a funk that won’t stop until the end of this space odyssey.
By the time Starhammer comes to an end after nearly 13 minutes, X-3 (Knuckelheads In Space) / The Getaway Special kicks off without a warning, taking you with light speed to the next rock’n’roll galaxy. There used to be a comment on last.fm which said something like this would be the perfect soundtrack when cruising with a cosmic chopper through the Milky Way. It is indeed. “Won’t you fly us?” – Of course! And after the landing, the jazzy outro gives the passenger a welcome repose in some space lounge.
“Round round round we go, always slightly faster…” The spacecraft floats calmly on its way to nowhere. But don’t feel too safe, because there are massive turmoils to come, sucking you into a black hole, always faster, always faster, The Bomb-Proof Roll And Beyond (for Arnie Hassle) has knocked you off course.
Close Your Eyes – maybe this is all just a dream, the listener is lost in melancholic piano sounds, space is such an empty and loveless place. W.B.A.T. wakes you up again, a jam session from infinity, the travel must go on! Meteors, burning planets, exploding suns, riff rock! Never ending grooves bring you back on track. The journey is its own reward. Irreality and reality have never been so close to each other; you once again have to close your eyes to see what’s between bass, guitars, drums and funky vocals. Just keep the pace, the end is near.
Not a bit of it! Gullible’s Travails (pt I – IV) shows you the way. It could be an album in itself. The last trip of this odyssey is nearly 21 minutes long and reminds you of the challenges you have to face. “Call it fear, call it hope disguised as anger.” Never have human eyes perceived so many strange galaxies – Zeppelin planets, Sabbath moons, Rings of Floyd. This trip has everything what jazz, prog and acoustic rock have to offer. Even at risk of overusing adjectives: this is an epic and dignified end for the expedition of the spacecraft baptised Heavy Metal Fruit. And it all just has started.
No recommendations. Nothing’s real. Enjoy it.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJXttnGCPDk]