Tag: MOTSUS

Review: MOTSUS – Atlas

Belgian stoner metal trio MOTSUS have returned from the galaxy next door with a new record, Atlas, that continues their exploration of heavy riffs and cosmic themes. “Atlas” can refer to the character of Greek myth who held the world upon his back, never succumbing to its heavy weight, or the comet discovered by the Atlas telescope in Chile in July 2025. The album’s cover seems to be a drawing of a futuristic science research outpost / doomsday shelter, possibly built from storage containers, and, knowing MOTSUS’ prior output, is probably on another planet or even floating in space.

“Driver” is suitable for playing while in orbit or for terraforming a distant planet with its rumbling drums and chugging guitars. “Duna” downshifts into trippy, melty psych-rock and lets you drift for over eight minutes along some gravity well that is either holding up or pulling down the planet, depending on your perspective.

The heavy sounds of “Exploder, Pt. II” are great. You’ll find yourself slowly head-banging as it rolls around your head and the room and the air around you. It fills every space for almost ten minutes until “Short Notice” gives you a two-minute rest before “Turboslak” shows up to pull you into an asteroid field in deep space, and you’re not sure if you’ll come out of it with one hundred percent hull integrity. The guitars and drums hammer like rocks of various sizes bouncing off the ship while you start landing procedures on one that looks like a good place to build the structure on the album’s cover.

Atlas is another good one from MOTSUS. Put it on, fire the ignition, and take off with it.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Tom of MOTSUS.]

MOTSUS – Oumuamua

Belgian stoner metal?  Yes, thank you.

I hadn’t heard of MOTSUS until they offered me a download of their new EP Oumuamua.  I’m glad they reached out to me, because this thing is heavier than that Chinese space station due to crash on Earth any day now.

The royally epic “Kings and Queens” opens the EP.  The whole track rumbles with an angry energy that is hard to describe, but “score for a rocket launch film scene” is fairly close.

The guitars soar on “Warm,” while the bass and drums hammer like dwarves in a deep mine searching for rare gems.  “Freddy” is equally heavy, and “Exploder (Part I)” is doom conjured up from the bottom of that dwarven mine.  The bass in particular stands out on this track, sounding like a growling lion and a jet engine roar at different times.

“Hoochy Woochy” might have a funny title, but the song is isn’t jovial.  It’s as thick as battlefield mud.  The build up to the rolling, crashing drums, furious guitars, and war hammer bass is excellent.  The EP ends with “Tin Men,” a churning, guttural tune perfect for the march of robotic soldiers across a desolate landscape.  It also has the only lyrics of the album – a monologue about a UFO coming to either destroy us, or worse, ignore us all together.

Oumuamua is a Hawaiian word for “scout,” and the album’s title refers to the first interstellar object to pass through the solar system.  It was discovered in October 2017 and is tumbling through space.  It took about 600,000 years to pass by us.  It’s not a comet or an asteroid.  It’s some sort of new object, according to NASA.  It passed us by.  It didn’t stop.

Regarding alien life in the universe, Arthur C. Clarke said, “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe or we are not.  Both are equally terrifying.”

MOTSUS has created a mixtape for this unknown traveler.  Let’s hope it comes back to hear more.

Keep your mind open.

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