Originality 75 Lyrical Content 60 Longevity 40 Overall Impact 80 Reader Rating 0 Votes 0 64 Amplifier, have returned with intriguing, difficult and wonderful tales, complete with gluttony and the power-mad bottoms that roam the strange world of ‘The Faust’

And so, it is set in stone that four Mancunian devils, known as Amplifier, have returned with intriguing, difficult and wonderful tales, complete with gluttony and the power-mad bottoms that roam the strange world of ‘The Faust’. Oh, and don’t forget their various stories of exploration throughout the 21st Century. Woah! Mind blowing, right? Fifty-nine minutes of iconic, buzzed riffs and voices from other dimensions, alright! Welcome to Amplifier’s sixth studio album, ‘Trippin With Dr Faustus’.

Okay, okay. It isn’t completely mind-blowing on the first listen. As with all progressive artforms, it could take days of committed and intense inspection to become hooked. And if that don’t work, well, it’s just marmite. Some love it, others hate it. But focus in on the grooves, look at ‘Kosmos (Grooves of Triumph)’, the bands chief single from their sixth LP, there one will find nineties and early noughties David Chase style smooth rock, with a tiny, miniscule essence of Radiohead’s Paranoid Android.

Sel Balamir explained the meaning and morale behind ‘Tripping With Dr Faustus’. And no, it isn’t a concept album based on the Elizabethan tale by Christopher Marlowe, which ended in tragedy.

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“Without wanting to pop the balloon of conceptual mystique, it’s not really a concept album. They’re just songs that have gestated and evolved over a certain period.

Every period of your life has a different colour and flavour, and this album reflects our lives in the past four or five years – we’re blokes in our 40s and we have sheds.

A lot of it is about the moral maze and the conundrums offered by even the most insignificant, minute choices. Like, when you go and buy a can of beans, you’re forced to ask if orphans are dying because you buy them. You’re forced to ask, ‘What are the implications?”

Trippin With Dr Faustus’ is available now via Rockosmos. And unfortunately, no streams exist, its either the traditionally fashioned MP3, CD or Vinyl. Full track listing is as follows…

Rainbow Machine

Freakzone

Kosmos (The Grooves of Triumph)

The Commotion (Big Time Party Maker)

Pig Daddy

Horse

Anubis

Supernova

Silvio

Old Blue Eyes