Review: Multishiva - Multishiva EP

Multishiva hail from Jyväskylä in Finland, and I don't know what they put in the water up there in the wintery hills but this EP is something special, especially considering it is their debut. The band's Facebook page state that they an 'ultrarock' band, which seems about right, bearing in mind ultra translated from Latin means "“on the far side of, beyond" - drop the comma and you're there!

This is spacerock with attitude. All the prerequisite space touches are there....some flourishes of swirling keys, that familiar Hawkwind chugging guitar, the driving drums....but Multishiva add something extra to the formula, there is an untamed aggression in some places that one would normally associate with punk, and indeed the vocals do have a particular Play Dead feel about them at time. It is the driving guitars, however, that give this it's attitude and force. The EP reminded me of Sula Bassana in places, and I can't think of any praise higher than that!

'Intergalactic Network' opens the show with some feedback and some guitar straight out of the Conflict book (yes...that Conflict) but it soon evolves into more familiar spacerock territory...well, Spacerock played by Discharge. It continually mutates in terms of minutae without losing the impetus, there are segments of sixties organ, some quieter places where it breaksdown into some kosmische synth lines and sharper, psych-y guitars, but the tempo soon picks up again. the vocals throughout are impassioned without being strident and remain slightly buried beneath the music. It ends with some alien noises and repeated spoken word (in Finnish?). It really is fantastic stuff.

A seamless segue ushers in 'Ultraviolent Light' which carries on where the former left off. The guitars again drive the track forward into slightly more traditional spacerock territory without losing any of the passion or attitude. Again there are flourishes of organ which give it a seventies hard psych vibe at times. At about the four and half minute mark it all breaks down to a motorik drumbeat and some Doorsian guitar underpinned by some swirling electronica and this, almost jazzy, jamming jogs along for 3 minutes or so before the guitars are let loose again. This is where the Sula Bassana comparison comes in...those familiar with the recently released 'Sula Bassana Live At Roadburn' will recognise and love the acid jamming that brings this track to it's triumphant climax.

'I Know Everything About 666' starts simply with a single bassline before another motorik drumbeat, synths and some simple guitar joins. The synths are pure seventies kosmische and they underscore what is a more sedate affair (compared to the first two tracks). Flashes of dissonent feedback punctuate the proceedings. The thing that struck me was that there is a tension to this track....a feeling that any minute all hell is going to break loose....the drums get more urgent and there's an almost indiscernible increase in tempo....but like a teasing lover it leaves you on the edge for what seems like hours. Without really noticing the track does evolve into something more akin to an acidrock feakout, but a more introverted one than the rest of the EP.

For a debut EP this is an assured and confident work and I, for one, cannot wait to see what they do next. It is available through the band's bandcamp page and if you like spacerock with attitude you'll love it....I certainly do!