Review: More Experience ‘Horizons Of Events’
More Experience. Although they may have taken their name from a Jimi Hendrix album, they’re not even one of the many cover bands, quite the opposite in fact. This phenomenal psych acid mantra folk rock collective from the city of Lublin, Poland, will transport you to a higher plane of consciousness with their transcendent, spiritually infused sonic journeys.
Formed in the late ‘80s by the divinely inspired multi-instrumentalist Piotr Dudzikowski, the holy man of the band, and his rhythmic backbone of a brother Janek Dudzikowski on drums, their early musical forays are a far cry from the evolved sound they’ve crafted in their two most recent works. Their initial psychedelic music excursion dates back to 1992 with the release of their first single. It wasn’t until 1998 that they truly dove headfirst into the kaleidoscopic waters with their first full-length, the aptly titled From Acid Dreams, an immersive, perception-altering journey that captured the senses and expanded the mind.
They followed this up in 2014 with the hauntingly evocative Piosenki z Szuflady (which translates to Songs From The Drawer), and in 2016 with the warm, inviting embrace of Follw Me. These first releases serve as an absolute treat for connoisseurs of authentic ‘60s and ‘70s psych rock. Each of these three records overflow with transportive sounds that carry each of us on a swirling journey through time, channelling the musical passion and fervour of psych rock’s heyday.
The band fearlessly explores the full spectrum, from the cosmic, experimental stratospheric style of Pink Floyd to the more grounded, earthly mantra vibes of acts like The Byrds, Quintessence, Fever Tree, The Chocolate Watchband, Cream, Hendrix, The Doors mixed with Canterbury sound keyboards touches, and even the chaotic energy of John’s Children, to name but a few touchstones.
These first works are glittering gems to be cherished – musical treasures to be unlocked and savoured in those perfect moments when one craves an immersive escape into realms of psych sonic beauty and imaginative splendour. This is because their songs are simply a sonic marvel straight out of the Garden of Eden, where each one has its own perfect fairytale sound, both vocal and instrumental.
Their fourth album, Electric Laboratory Of High Space Experience, released in 2021, takes us on a journey into an otherworldly realm of psychedelic bliss. The cover art alone is a mesmerising spectacle. A dry wheat field with a child in the middle admiring a luminous intergalactic stormy sky. As the music begins, the album reveals itself as a true miracle – a monumental, mind-expanding odyssey that feels like a natural hallucinogenic trip, no chemicals required. It stands as a triumphant hymn to the astral and earthly sounds of psych rock, with cosmic soundscapes and hypnotic grooves weaving together in a tapestry of aural enchantment. Eryk Paluch‘s deep, resonant vocals serve as the narrator, guiding you through this Lunatic Space Diary of celestial melodies and stratospheric sonic explorations that never fail to captivate and enthral.
Three years after their divine search for heartily spiritual freedom, this mantric collective is back with Horizons Of Events. Their latest captivating creation, woven through four enchanting stories, made to treat us to a captivating sequel that builds upon the dreamlike tapestry woven in their previous work. As Piotr divulged, ‘this new piece is a continuation of the surreal journey, delving deeper into the labyrinthine realm of the subconscious’.
The work unfolds like a hypnotic diary, each page filled with vivid accounts of otherworldly experiences plucked from the depths of dreams and visions. These ethereal narratives intertwine seamlessly with an eclectic array of musical motifs, each note and melody carefully synchronised to create a symphony of unlikely stories. From the very first notes of Deep Cosmic Kisses, you are drawn into a captivating and alluring soundscape. The haunting strains of an Indian mantra, played on a guitar that uncannily captures the essence of a sitar, intertwine with the steady, hypnotic beat of a tabla, evoking an atmosphere of spiritual reverence and ancient mysticism.
a spellbinding invocation of the magic and mysticism that lies at the heart of the psych rock experience…
As the music washes over you, Eryk‘s voice enters, posing provocative and unsettling questions that pierce through the trance-like state induced by the instrumentation. The combination of the music and thought-provoking lyrics creates a multisensory experience that envelops the listener, transporting them to a realm where the boundaries between the sacred and the profane, the divine and the diabolical, blur and dissolve.
The enchanting soundscape unfolds like a vivid dream, with the heavenly chirping of forest birds gently ushering in a warm, earthly acid folk ballad, its tender melody sung with a profound love and serenity that envelops the soul in a comforting embrace. Though the lyrics may speak of the sombre spectre of Death, the music itself evokes an ethereal and overwhelming sense of transcendence, as if the very essence of life is being celebrated in all its ephemeral beauty.
As the journey continues, Wait A Minute emerges from the shadows like a haunting vision, its smoky jazz club atmosphere conjuring images of a world-weary crooner pouring out his heart in a dimly lit room. Slowly, the singer’s voice transforms, morphing into an exhausted and demanding cry that pierces the veil of the night, accompanied by an enthralling river of twisted and melodious sounds that swirl and dance like ghostly apparitions. The echoing, dark tones of a didgeridoo add an ancient, primal element to the mix, as if summoning the spirits of long-forgotten ancestors to join in the hypnotic revelry.
In the end, everything coalesces into a seamless continuation of the band’s previous work, a Lunatic Space Trip that propels you into an awe-inspiring universe of sound and vision. Here, the mysterious travellers become one with the cosmos, singing the body electric under a vast canopy of stars, their voice a celestial instrument that resonates with the fundamental frequencies of creation itself. The stratospheric jazz sounds and pure, experimental whispered beauty of the composition create an overwhelming sense of wonder and revelation, as if the secrets of the universe are being unveiled in a glorious epiphany of sight and sound.
In this moment of cosmic unity, the perception, conception and consciousness are all one and the same, intertwined in an exquisite dance of unimaginable beauty that defies description and transcends the limitations of the human experience.
In a genre crowded with imitators and pretenders, More Experience emerges as a rare beacon of authenticity, funnelling the primal essence of psychedelia with a mastery that precious few of their contemporaries can match. This album is more than just music – it is sonic sorcery of the highest order, a spellbinding invocation of the magic and mysticism that lies at the heart of the psych rock experience.
Label: Old Hippie | Sound Effect Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify
Scribed by: Domenico ‘Mimmo’ Caccamo
