Mythic Sunship released Another Shape of Psychedelic Music
in 2018, this being their fourth album in as many year and with their ability
to shape psych, time and musical space, they have become a leading light in
European psych rock and this time they bring the listener in to their live
experience in Changing Shapes. As the album description notes, Mythic Sunship
played three shows at Roadburn 2019 and Changing Shaped documents the most
ferocious and courageous of the three.
I know that many bands have put on legendary performances at
Roadburn over the years, but to have it documented on an official release
elevates the classic performances in to something even more special.
Awakening builds slowly and as it drifts from side to side,
each instrument beginning to evolve. The addition of saxophone takes the
evolution to another level with its free form jazz like explosion. Once the
craziness of the build-up levels off, all roads turn towards the same direction
and the space psych journey takes voyage in to the night sky. Lighter
interludes on the journey give way to more sax, which tells its own tale of
said voyage. The final two minutes really take the listener to the next level
with some rock out guitar work, an explosion of drums any cymbals and the ever
present bass line holding everything together. It’s a shame the track has to
finish on eleven minutes.
A longer version of Elevation follows on with its mind
warping space rock journey. The bass is there and hooks you with its constant
near hypnotic pull. The drums keep time but take several side trips into
explosive territory before returning to let the guitars soar towards the sun
and the sax take center stage, taking the listener never to the same place
twice. The last four minutes get faster and faster and the bassline implants
itself deep in your mind as the journey into the cosmos concludes at quite a
rate. If you are holding the record you will notice Elevation is not on it, but
the accompanying digital download has it ready for you.
Way Ahead feels a lot more organic, like a jam version of
earlier songs. With the majority of the track being driven by the guitars and
percussion, the sax implants itself deeper in to the mix when it makes an
appearance. From the minute go, each band member lets go of themselves and rocks
out with this supersonic cosmic journey into hyperspace.
Olympia is another new jam that takes you above the clouds
into eleven minutes of a sonic psychedelic build up. There’s a lot of guitar
riffs that role over each other and form big grooves that are plugged by the
free flowing sax. It truly turns in to the stand out moment on the record.
Concluding the release, Ophidian Rising is back to earlier
material that kicks in like a heavy psych freak out from the start, no build up
or atmospheric opening, just killer heavy psych. Like a huge comet crossing the
night sky and breaking through the Earth’s atmosphere, the ball of ever
evolving fire keeps spinning and speeding up before taking everything along as
it hurtles down to make an untimely connection.
With their impressive output of music, I doubt we will have
to wait for more new music, but with the new jam’s here, you are again elevated
into another Mythic Sunship trance like state. I have yet to experience them
live, but this records scratches the itch until they hopefully come to the UK
one day.
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