MAGICK BROTHER & MYSTIC SISTER Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The Magick Brother & Mystic Sister are in fact not a brother-sister duo, but rather a quartet made up of musicians Eva Muntada, Marc Tena, Maya Fernandez and Xavi Sandoval. Active since 2020 and their debut self-titled EP, this light occultic outfit have since built a rep for weaving flying-carpeted tapestries of narration, sonic reverie, and mysticism in album form; their latest record Tarot II is no exception this rule, coming as the second to name itself after the card-reading divination practice common to the Western esoteric world and beyond. Out from an opening, what sounds to be hammered dulcimered prog progression ('Strength') and moving through to a further ten tracks each named after tarot cards (save for the 'Unnamed Arcane', an apocryphal confabulation of the band - have they drawn a hand we haven't?), this is a record of supreme mystique, and one for the witches and warlocks in our ranks.

Review: Magick Brother & Mystic Sister took inspiration for their name from a serial Gong album, and sure enough this Barcelona-based four-piece know exactly where they're aiming with their heavily psychedelic, tripped-out strain of cosmic rock. Following on from their self-titled debut, now the band are back with the first instalment of a two-part album release called Tarot - so far, so mystic. The groove on 'The Hierophant' is a great place to start in diving into the intoxicating headspace of the band, where some outernational instrumentation collides with the propulsive krautrock-informed rhythm section and the Canterbury scene's affinity for funk. It's a visceral trip no self-respecting pscyhonaut should be without.