The Spacelords Premiere Nectar of the Gods in Full; Out Friday
Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on October 16th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This Friday, Oct. 20, German heavy psychedelic rockers The Spacelords return with their sixth full-length, the four-song Nectar of the Gods, through Tonzonen Records. Instrumental in its 44-minute entirety, the album runs a kosmiche web between classic prog, heavy and psychedelic rocks, looking outward from the foundation of its own jams but already more developed than the raw improv. To wit, the penultimate “Mindscapes” (9:42) plays around with and evolves a groove that feels culled in part from Black Sabbath‘s “War Pigs,” changing it over time in the nine-plus-minute course but both retaining the central character and presenting the influence from an internalized place, and they’re no less at home there than in the ultra-drift that begins the subsequent closer “Lost Sounds of Lemuria” (14:15).
Yet would you call the album comfortable? I don’t know. Space is always moving, it just looks still because it’s impossibly huge, and there are some moments through Nectar of the Gods where they seem to be resting in a part when in fact they’re evolving it subtly toward a linear end. Their 2021 album, Unknown Species (review here) had three songs and no less character, but Nectar of the Gods brings further into relief just where The Spacelords — the returning trio of guitarist Matthias “Hazi” Wettstein, bassist Erhard “Akee” Kazmaier and drummer Marcus Schnitzler, plus Jens Eberhard on keys for “Lost Sounds of Lemuria” — lie on the border between structured songwriting and jamming. Because as the sitar drone, tabla percussion and mantra chanting start “Nectar of the Gods,” it’s pretty clear they’re not making it up on the spot, but neither are they belting out verses and choruses in three-minute singles. There’s a plan at work, but it is looser, and it can be because of their instrumental approach.
Most vocals (because nothing is absolute) would diminish the forward march of “Nectar of the Gods,” which transcends its opening to find itself by its midpoint at the crescendo of a stoner rock nod. Lead guitar builds around it, weaving through in heavy psychedelic fashion, but as they will with that aforementioned “War Pigs” riff in “Mindscapes,” they ride the progression and seem to let it change its shape as it will. They work their way to a stop and renew the movement with satisfying crash of the drums for punctuation, and preface some of the titular payoff that “Endorphine High” (10:24) saunters through in a way that should please fans of latter-day Earthless, riding through what might’ve been an open jam before the fade brings the percussive start of “Mindscapes” and some of the funk in the bounce of the bass its first half, however many decades of all-in guitar-led powertrioism filtering through Wettstein, Kazmaier and Schnitzler‘s unflinching chemistry. There’s just the barest hint of heavy metal as they transition to the back-half stretch, but “Mindscapes” finishes quiet and gives “Lost Sounds of Lemuria” room to flourish as it will.
Eberhard‘s keys on “Lost Sounds of Lemuria” make Nectar of the Gods‘ closing track an event more than its 14-minute runtime, though that also isn’t to be discounted when considering the sense of arriving one has at the fourth inclusion. It begins as a dream of Rhodes and guitar drift, bass and drums keeping it casual beneath, and moves into a more resolute psychedelic triumph as the keys continue to add complementary melody around the guitar lines, harmonizing maybe but in their own place through repetitive cycles of a riff and then taking a solo before seven minutes in, welcoming back the guitar over the next minute to resume the conversation. Wettstein steps forward circa 9:40 to lead into a more angular movement, but it’s clearly a transition taking place, and where they end up is with Hammond holding notes over the swirling builds of guitar and the forward motion of the rhythm section, a kind of ringing, multi-hued resonance that’s born of classic psychedelic and maybe even blues jamming with those keys, but that is a glory reserved specifically for this record much like the actual soma of mythology.
After starting Nectar of the Gods with the chanting, the hints toward Subcontinental Asian arrangement elements don’t return as one might expect, but if you start “Nectar of the Gods” right after the end of Unknown Species‘ 20-minute closer “Time Tunnel,” the new track picks up well out of the older, and that’s not nothing, whether or not it was on purpose. Conceptually, The Spacelords aren’t looking to trick anyone into thinking they’re something they’re not, and they’re not pretending these songs are off-the-cuff jams either. They’ve been worked on and completed in their own way and even when they seem at their loosest, they’re still following a plan that’s put them there. The material is dynamic, spacious, absolutely encompassing on headphones, and it rocks. They hit a groove and takeoff like they know you’re at the festival and it’s hot and you’ve been waiting for it so here it is, and that’s an energy specific enough that it can’t be faked.
Not everybody will be able to vibe with it, and that’s a little sad, but if you can put yourself in the right headspace to follow the places The Spacelords are leading, Nectar of the Gods is both a satisfying and a jovial trip to take. Whatever the state of the world, the songs are in good spirits and the invitation in them is palpable. Go with it and you might just make your day better.
Please enjoy:
The Spacelords, Nectar of the Gods full album premiere
Pre-order it here: https://www.tonzonen.de/shop/p/the-spacelords-coming-soon-
The Spacelords – the galactic grooving space rockers in the stoner space-time continuum – honor our sun sound system with their latest album Nectar Of The Gods. Its entry into the Earth’s atmosphere was calculated for the end of October!
Nectar Of The Gods is the 6th studio album on the Tonzonen Records label. The exceptional formation was founded in 2008 and is since May 2014 in their classic, perfect line-up, which inspires an ever-growing fan base worldwide.
After effusive reactions to the first five studio albums, The Spacelords open with Nectar Of The Gods another, so far unheard-of chapter in their original, magical space-atlas.
The trio’s constantly reinventing, deeply interwoven interplay is increasingly captivating the stoner, space and kraut rock community with its devotional joy of playing, as only true friends can muster.
On one of the four epic new tracks on Nectar Of The Gods the gigantic attraction of the massive Spacelords star has once again attracted a sympathetic emissary from the neighboring keyboard universe: Lost Sound Of Lemuria is enhanced by friend Guest Lord, namely Jens Eberhard of Jewelled Moon, with brilliant Fender Rhodes and organ sounds.
Four impressive new songs were created in the home studio, which have both a high recognition value, and know how to convince atmospherically.
Nectar Of The Gods is released on Digipack CD, limited label edition LP (yellow vinyl) and regular LP (black vinyl), as well as a digital release.
Tracklist
1. Nectar Of The Gods
2. Endorphine High
3. Mindscapes
4. Lost Sounds Of Lemuria
