Review: Quasars Of Destiny ‘Music To Listen To While Eating Planets’
With a band name like Quasars Of Destiny and an album title like Music To Listen To While Eating Planets, you know you’re going to be in for a wild sonic ride, and let it be known, I certainly was not disappointed. Quasars Of Destiny is just one of the many musical projects of Portugal-based keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist Scott Heller, also known as Dr. Space, who also plays with Øresund Space Collective, Black Moon Circle, and Doctors Of Space, as well as contributing synthesizers to a myriad of other bands and projects.
I, of course, didn’t know anything about this musician prior to seeing such a jaw-droppingly awesome band moniker, and I was completely ready to climb aboard this spaceship and blast off into the proverbial hyperspace with the good doctor. Going from the earnest, down to earth, matter-of-fact press release, Heller was joined by his ‘cousin Craig’, who would be Craig Wall, a multi-instrumentalist as he’s credited for drums, bass, guitars and more, while Dr. Space himself trips out on the synthesizer and their ‘friend James’, James Malley, providing cowbell and shakers.
The idea behind this project had been percolating for some time, and the cousins finally got it off the ground, the concept being some off-the-cuff, Floydian jams over the course of a few days, and that is exactly what we’ve got with Music To Listen To While Eating Planets.
These aren’t so much ‘songs” as they are musical movements, which is crystal clear on opener Colossus Approacheth, an airy, spacey affair, boasting plenty of cool, clean, echo-y guitar noodling and shred, anchored by some subtle, understated drumming, and bass lines which, not surprisingly is drenched in all sorts of swirling, psychedelic craziness courtesy of Dr. Space himself.
However, we are just getting started on this sonic journey through time and space, as the completely epic, half-hour-long, Floydian centerpiece Colossus Consumes creeps into consciousness. Beginning with cleaner, echoed-out, guitar space-outs and swirling effects, the track takes its time, sounding like the aural version of the title, as a slow but steady, psych-drenched march begins to build.
Music To Listen To While Eating Planets is the perfect soundtrack for late-night chill-downs and artistic meanderings…
Somewhere around three minutes in, Wall does his best to morph into David Gilmour as his Floydian noodling and shred sounds like it was taken straight off the cutting room floor of The Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall, as he warps, bends and twists plenty of Gilmour’s signature licks, just enough to give you a quick hint of aural reference, before quickly turning into another direction.
This really is an auditory portal into some alternate Pink Floyd dimension, that is before Wall kicks shit into another gear with all sorts of cosmic and epic guitar theatrics that is anchored by a head-nodding, walloping, fuzzed-out bass. And thus it goes, as Colossus Consumes teleports through several musical planes, each one effortlessly flowing into the next, some of it heavy, some of it mellow, but all of it is enveloped in all sorts of swirling, cosmic, spaced-out effects and well-timed organ flourishes. The guitar playing is fantastic throughout, as Wall truly unloads his Floydian guitar playing arsenal over the course of the half an hour that really captures the vibe of early ‘70s psychedelia.
We begin the journey home with closer Colossus Seeks A New Planet, which shifts gears into an almost funky, WAR (as in the band) like rhythmic groove, featuring plenty of cowbell, that’s blanketed by a distorted, blown-out sound with the guitar unleashing all sorts of lo-fi, early ‘70s riffage which is of course cloaked in synth histrionics. Things start to chill a bit as we re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, then suddenly it’s all over, and we’ve returned safely home, the record coming to its mind-bending close.
What seemed to be described as an off-the-cuff, musical throwdown over the course of a few days amongst cousins turned into one of the cooler instrumental journeys I’ve taken in quite some time. This is a killer, spaced-out, psychedelic, distorted, and at times funky, heavy prog and rock instrumental experience of the highest order, loaded with awesome guitar playing and all sorts of electrifying grooves, synthesizers and sound effects.
Music To Listen To While Eating Planets is the perfect soundtrack for late-night chill-downs and artistic meanderings, and I’m sure I’ll be revisiting it frequently while also exploring Dr. Space’s other projects. Bonus points for the Galactus references, planned or not.
Label: Independent
Band Links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Martin Williams
