While the band’s output over the past ten years has varied from epic psychedelic guitar meltdowns à la Earthless to sweeping, reverb-drenched soundscapes, a core of dense rhythm and melody always holds it all together. On VI, Papir show a mastery of all their faces, combining the guitar heroics of their first few records with the more lush sound of last year’s V. In a mere 4 songs, Papir once again refresh tired ears with their unmistakable approach to rock music, leaving the listener blissed rather than bludgeoned.Media/Samples
On the six instrumentals that make up “V”, Papir travel effortlessly through a broad musical terrain of genres such as psychedelic rock, post rock and even ambient soundscapes, they create their own musical worlds. From hard rocking solos and heavy riffs to dreamy melodic themes and atmospheric soundscapes, it is a true auditory voyage spanning two LPs and countless genres. “V” was mixed by JohnMcEntire from Chicago post rock pioneers Tortoise, shaping the music through a distinct, natural and spacious aesthetic that complements these auditive voyages perfectly.
The record features 6 track, 3 per side and starts off with Solo1 and it features some nice melodic guitar over a steady Christian/Christoffer groove. Jonas layers in some organ as well filling in the bottom of the sound but still allowing the guitar parts to lead. Nice track with some repeated themes. In the end it builds up a lot like a Papir track but with out the intense lead guitar. The spacey keyboard part sort of increases instead for a real dreamy feel. Solo 2 is a quite slow piece with drums and bass and a slow gliding guitar line. This is a very peaceful piece of music. Solo3 starts with a really cool looped guitar and then Nicklas comes in with another melodic line over the top. You can just hear the high hat (I think) but no other drums yet. Eventually a bass line joins the track and then a repetitive keyboard line. The track grows as a new looped guitar is started but the keyboards grow to dominate this track with Nicklas almost disappearing for a while. There are no real drums per se. Lots of looped Krauty stuff.
The trio gradually transforms from the mellowest of soundscapes into brief eruptions of unadulterated instrumental bliss on a track that is as unearthly as it is spellbinding. The infectious drumming of Christoffer Brøchmann is, as per usual, the definitive driving force of the band with guitarist Nicklas Sørensen creating ambient, albeit occasionally jazzy sonic textures that are layered gently on top of the persistent, driving bass-lines of Christian Becher. “IIII.I” occasionally borders on some quite heavy territory that isn’t all that associable with Papir – this, however, just shows that they are indeed evolving, grasping at sonic concepts not entirely familiar, yet not at all unlinked to their signature sounds.Read the full review at rockfreaks.net
Even if you’re only marginally familiar with either of these outfits, the knee-jerk reaction might be, “What could go wrong?” Well, you’d be right for the most part. Nothing. A ‘very spontaneous collaboration’ between the two, The Papermoon Sessions is exactly what you’d expect from these astronauts. It’s a stellar album for each band on their own, and for the third one they seamlessly meld into.Read the full review at mratavist.wordpress.com
These guys are certainly on their own path and Papir III is their most fully realized album to date, it encompasses everything the band represents in a single piece of heavy vinyl – from explosive, guitar-solo driven peaks through motoric krautrock grooves to peaceful and atmospheric soundscapes.