Magna Carta

The Ozric Tentacles' The Yumyum Tree is a traditional conglomeration of what the British veterans know how to do best: quirkiness, eclecticism, and Middle Eastern jams topped with hard rock guitar riffs. The Yumyum Tree exemplifies what the Ozrics are talented at: playing space synths and psytrance-like intros with bouts of interesting and diverse influences throughout each song. However, it offers minimal variation from the group’s previous recordings and underscores how essential it is to see the band live to appreciate their talent.

The Yumyum Tree is a delicious assortment of songs that shows off the group’s ability to play worldly music from the Ozric members. It is apparent that they know how to play an island style mixed with rock, as in "Oddweird," or reggae mixed with rock as in "Mooncalf," with a hint of space-like energy that tries to create a unity among all styles of music in a fluidity that might be hard for other bands to express. Still, on songs such as "Magick Valley," which utilizes a well-paced minimalism that allows the music to develop gradually, the music isn’t all that shockingly new or exciting when compared to the group’s other albums from the past 25 years.

The Ozrics know what they are doing, but it would be nice to hear them use the studio to take their gifts to another level.