For anyone whose patience with the unrelenting jocosity of the Oklahoma psych-rockers ran out many full moons ago, the nocturnal mantras that comprise The Terror deliver a jolt to the heart like a defibrillator. Which is odd, as the record was reportedly made as an antidote to the draining complexities the band – reduced to frontman Wayne Coyne and multi-instrumentalist Steven Drozd – met in recording the collaborative Heady Fwendz album. But perhaps not so odd when you bundle in Drozd apparently reconnecting with hard drugs plus Coyne's avowed embrace of MDMA and cocaine despite the march of time (he's 52). Anyway, whatever fuelled this clearly hit the spot, since these nine inner-space excursions follow a languid, scooped-out arc with little to identify its makers barring Coyne's voice. Leaning heavily on reverb, delay and a barnful of modulation, there's barely a "real" sound on The Terror, sporadic stalagmites of super-brittle guitar notwithstanding. Instead it's synthesizers and beatboxes to the max, all strained through an EQ of dub-like proportions. Back to life, if not reality.