Release Date: January 30th 2026. Record Label: POLDERRECORDS. Formats: CD/DD
Atlas - Tracklisting
1.Intro (El Toro de Fuego)
2.Driver
3.Duna
4.Exploder, Pt. II
5.Short Notice
6.Turboslak
Members
Tom Maene (guitar)
Wouter Verhelst (bass)
Wouter Velle (drums).
Review
Instrumental Doom/Stoner Metallers MOTSUS return from the heavy rock wilderness to deliver their second album Atlas and it’s been eight years since the band released their debut album. Atlas is quite a heavy progressive and psychedelic affair whilst keeping close musical and creative ties to the likes of Karma To Burn, Pelican, Yawning Man and ROTOR. Though, you have the unexpected melodies of LOWRIDER and KYUSS for a record that’s deeply rooted within the Doom, Stoner and Post-Metal scenes.
With the help of the legendary Karl Daniel Lidén (Dozer, Greenleaf, A Swarm Of The Sun) on mixing and mastering duties, MOTSUS don’t hold anything back within the VOLUME department as Atlas is quite aggressive and beautifully multi-layered which you can hear from the very opening tracks of Intro (El Toro de Fuego) and Driver. The mood is quite ice-cold with MOTSUS developing a style of Post-Rock, Post-Doom, Stoner Metal and Spaced Out rhythms that easily solidifies a deft atmospheric sound holding everything together.
There’s also a major part of the album where everything is contained within an aspect of Cosmic Doom and Space Rock attitudes which allows the heavy cinematic soundscapes to move into other areas of music. The frequent ambient soundscapes offer a cool sounding LUSH environment with MOTSUS once again taking a real progressive stand that includes little Middle Eastern noises and shoegaze surroundings that appear from the haunting third track of Duna.
MOTSUS provide an interesting style of deliberately slow played melodies that offers a stripped back approach in the more sombre elements of the record. They could have easily went over the top with this type of music on Duna but this gives their music more depth and extra weight in how the music is played and brilliantly delivered within a fractured Droned Out atmosphere.
MOTSUS keep changing things around with their music for an album that drifts into the heavier depths and wilderness of Doom, Sludge and Stoner Metal based landscapes with perhaps the standout track of Exploder Pt II being my favourite track on the whole album. As it takes the listener through a superbly interesting journey which has a beginning, middle and end. It’s this style of creativity that makes ATLAS such a highly rewarding and emotionally charged experience.
The final two tracks Short Notice and Turboslak allows MOTSUS every opportunity to continue playing their highly dominant style of HEAVY ROCK with an engaging Progressive premise that once again delivers intense grooves with some mighty slabs of POST-METAL and POST-DOOM that’s even spliced with the classic sounds of the Instrumental Stoner Metal underground scene.
When this album truly SOARS then there is no stopping MOTSUS delivering an exhilarating record that feels like a real breath of fresh air into the underground scene. It’s hard to believe there’s been a wide range of first class Instrumental Rock/Metal albums already being released this year and ATLAS continues that great run for a record that deserves to be played from the LOUDEST SPEAKERS possible!!!!
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to POLDERRECORDS for the promo.
Atlas is available to buy now on CD/DD from POLDERRECORDS.
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