Maserati VII

Maserati VII

Maserati continues to morph and shed, with each new layer revealing glossy textures sleek with electronic sparkle, plus guitar and synth tones that evoke decades gone by (the '70s on occasion, the '80s more frequently) and a sort of reborn newness. After the death of drummer Jerry Fuchs in 2009, the band endured with unwavering motorik grace. New drummer Mike Albanese fills Fuchs' rather large shoes admirably. Here there are sprawling numbers that wind up and down with precision and stealth, plus shorter numbers that hit fast and hard, like the stomping, old-school "Earth Like" (which may elicit some nostalgia for Maserati's more aggressive days). Getting lost in the 10-minute-plus "Abracadabracab" is like making your way through a maze: it's a slightly disorienting but fun adventure that rewards with small thrills at every turn, especially in the drawn-out coda. Psychedelic atmospherics and funky bass lines churn out booty-shaking songs that spiral and swirl, all of which make Maserati VII a solid follow-up to 2010's Pyramid of the Sun.

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