Mantric Muse and Mahadjah - Dragens Hule, København 8/9/02

From Aural Innovations #21 (October 2002)

This was the second Mantric Muse concert this year and I was really looking forward to it. Mikael has been playing with the band for more than half a year now and really adds a lot with the extra guitar and synthesizers. Plus the band had rehearsed a lot in June and July to prepare for putting down the tracks for a new CD. Mahadjah, are a 4 piece pop rock band who share the rehearsal space with Mantric Muse. Jen, the singer and the main man who writes all the songs is a long time friend of Magnus. I was not sure what to expect but there were a lot of people on this hot summer night. The band plays a sort of dark moody pop music influenced by people like Leonard Cohan and Neil Young. Several of the songs were quite long. Jen plays electric guitar, they had a Sudanese guy on bass, drums and acoustic guitar. It was a very nice set of music but I was more in the mood for some space rock!

Mahadjah Set List: Don't Die, Hey Man, Breathe, Broken Frame, Away, Black Flower, Love Will Come, Time

Mantric Muse started around 11:30 or so and opened with Sindbad Søfareren, which will be on the new CD. The sound was excellent but the drums were too loud and would remain so in this very small club that holds about 50. Cinipe was next and this will soon appear on the Copenhagen Space Rock Festival compilation CD. Too bad the festival was cancelled. Great song. Magnus plays some awesome space slide guitar. Azur is always a favorite as this is an old song but also the bands only really heavy rocker. Mantric Muse kick muck or sorts. DMU finishes the first set. The second set starts with a long dual synthesizer space out with Magus playing the Oscar and Prophecy and Mikael the Virus and Alexsis. Pholkreg is another old number and is only guitars and no synthesizer. Zanzibar and Deep Sea Cheops follow. Michael, has been laying down the most incredible bass playing. This guy is a monster player and has had me transfixed the whole night. The band close with a very cool space reggae improvised song. An excellent 110 minutes of music!

Although people find it easy to compare Mantric Muse with Ozric Tentacles, the band have found their own niche in this world of instrumental psychedelic space rock and soon everyone will get to experience it when the band finishes their new CD.

Mantric Muse Set List:
1st Set: Sinbad Søfareren, Cinope, Hologram Hindi, Azur, DMU
2nd Set: SFUNX, Pholkreg, Zanzibar, Deep Sea Cheops, Project Dub X (The Wookie)

Reviewed by Scott Heller

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