Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
Belgium’s MOTSUS have returned with their first official full-length album via Polderrecords, the just-released ‘Oumuamua‘.
The follow-up to a couple of previous Demos, ‘Oumuamua‘ finds this trio transmitting some heavy vibes. Not quite full-on doom heavy but still, thick and dense, lumbering fuzz with defined desert rock overtones would describe things nicely.
In fact, that is exactly what you get from the epic introductory song here, “Kings And Queens” and its successor, “Warm“. Both are laden with music that almost feels alive as if it were an organic, breathing entity graced with emotion and movement.
Oh, did I mention that MOTSUS is a (mostly) instrumental band? Well, they are, save a few gang choruses/shouts here or there and most of you know how I feel about instrumental bands in general, right? No bones made, I’m iffy and on-the-fence with many of them but there are no worries here for MOTSUS are powerful and impossible to resist.
After the darker nuances of those opening constructs, things take a lighter, uplifting upward swing with the bouncy “Freddy“. The tune soon finds its groove as “Freddy” works to become your friend and confidant.
Now halfway through ‘Oumuamua’, we come upon the bare-knuckle heft of “Exploder (Part I)“, a riveting deluge of massive riffs and concussive drumming. Slowly it grinds and churns before the occasional fuel intake quickens its pace and tempos. This is the style song that could easily justify MOTSUS being tagged as a doom band, although a constant doom aura is not contained in this cut.
That doomy tint does stay intact for the next track, “Hoochy Woochy“, yet it is riddled with passages plied somewhat with a sense of urgency. The pulsating guitars, rippling rhythmic pulses, and solid drumming make their presences known. So much so, in fact, that this is one of my personal favorites.
The closing selection we now stand at, the nearly nine and a half-minute “Tin Men“, is to quickly become another favorite, once heard. The darker overtones of the album’s intro tracks are back and augmented to the hilt, they permeate this song right from the start. This is MOTSUS at its most finest moment I do believe as grand, sweeping instrumentation is unleashed and then restrained, delivered, and then diluted.
That song, which possesses an eerie spoken word sample from Stijn Ramboer, along with the others too, are all emotive and stirring. They apply so much magnetic allure that it is almost impossible to not dig this album in all aspects, instrumental or not.
Give it a spin via the Bandcamp embed provided here or take the straight route over to this location where MOTSUS‘ ‘Oumuamua‘ is streaming and available for purchase now.
