It’s critical suicide to pre-judge any disc by its benefactor (or the hookah quotient of Man’s Ruin). Yet, this disc may even be a shocker to fans expecting another savage screamer from these Norwegian stoners. But only if your definition of psychedelia is limited to those ultra-energetic, Detroit-spawned power surges. Long Days Flight (the title a take-off of an old Electric Prunes album) is a more elegant journey into the mind’s eye by a band now bored with all of the direction-less jamming. Instead, they provide a slowly blossoming, mostly-instrumental soundtrack that’s more colorful and vibrant than just banging out old Ten Years After covers. Like the opening sequence of "Deliverance," beginning with an eerie harmonica passage that tips off a spaghetti western theme, winding into a doomy/baroque Doors brooder. Capped off by a series of cleansing, shimmering guitar lines and a twinkle of cheesy bongo percussion, the subtle turns and transformations are an audio hallucination unfolding before your ears. While the slow, transcendental segues suggest an Ummagumma-era Floyd, the odd mixture of glossy production (horns ‘n’ strings) with forceful, hard distortion (insert your Blue Cheer imitator here) sounds more like some of those ‘60s hippie exploitation albums or seedy porno soundtracks. Drifting from seamless serenity (like the floating flutes in "Gallery Oslo") to searing schlock (like the "waka-ju-waka" funky guitars in "Transatlantic Phonecall"-pure Superfly) the Euroboys are serious students of this psych-related micro-genre. And if "psychedelic" was ever meant to feed your imagination, you could certainly gorge yourself here.

-Virginia Reed