Electric Eye - From The Poisonous Tree album review

The great taste of original sin...

Cover art for Electric Eye - From The Poisonous Tree album

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Throbbing across an underlying rhythmic pulse that boasts the mesmeric combination of detached precision and groove that marks all the best motorik, Bergen’s Electric Eye have concocted the third instalment in their ongoing journey into the heart of the psychedelic sun, and it’s a keeper.

So what exactly have the Norwegian quartet plucked From The Poisonous Tree on this occasion? As is often the case with such improvisation inclined psychotropic sonic explorers: more of the same, only more so.

Of course, wizards of a decidedly more lizard-y gizzard have a tendency to plummet haphazardly in similar circumstances, to crank up their inner Hawkwind and fly as far off the handle as is possible. But the added glint in Electric Eye comes courtesy of a broader sonic palette, jarring old-school beats that trip off into surprising counter-rhythms, and dynamic shifts that initially jar just as much as they ultimately beguile. Sometimes You Got To Jump To Lift Your Feet locks in, then soars, locks back in then soars again.

Electric Eye elevate to captivate, they have the power to seduce a soul ascendent. With a post-Roses spin on a 60s soundtrack vibe here, a celestial sitar there, the succulent fruits of this particular tree are as seductive as Eve’s apples.

Ian Fortnam

Classic Rock’s Reviews Editor for the last 20 years, Ian stapled his first fanzine in 1977. Since misspending his youth by way of ‘research’ his work has also appeared in such publications as Metal Hammer, Prog, NME, Uncut, Kerrang!, VOX, The Face, The Guardian, Total Guitar, Guitarist, Electronic Sound, Record Collector and across the internet. Permanently buried under mountains of recorded media, ears ringing from a lifetime of gigs, he enjoys nothing more than recreationally throttling a guitar and following a baptism of punk fire has played in bands for 45 years, releasing recordings via Esoteric Antenna and Cleopatra Records.