Motorpsycho

Formed in Trondheim in the late 1980s, Motorpsycho initially established itself in a heavy, noisy and alternative register before quickly broadening its spectrum toward psychedelic rock, progressive rock, indie rock and forays into folk, jazz and post-rock. The band's core from the outset has rested on Bent Sæther and Hans Magnus Ryan, with several drummers over the years, including Håkon Gebhardt, Kenneth Kapstad and Tomas Järmyr. From the early records, including Lobotomizer (1991), Soothe (1992) and Demon Box (1993), Motorpsycho develops an expansive writing, marked by contrasts between saturation, melodies and long-form pieces. The 1990s established the band on Scandinavian stages and in Northern Europe, with albums such as Timothy’s Monster (1994), Blissard (1996) and Trust Us (1998). At the turn of the 2000s, Motorpsycho shifted its sound on Let Them Eat Cake (2000), Phanerothyme (2001) and It’s a Love Cult (2002), in a looser and more melodic vein. The sequence alternates between direct formats and ambitious constructions, notably The Death Defying Unicorn with Ståle Storløkken (2012), then The Tower (2017), The Crucible (2019), The All Is One (2020), Kingdom of Oblivion (2021), Ancient Astronauts (2022) and Yay! (2023). Motorpsycho remains associated with a moving aesthetic, made of massive riffs, improvisation, acoustic passages and extended compositions.