TDM Staff review: Psycroptic – The Inherited Repression
PSYCROPTIC
The Inherited Repression (2012)
Australia, Nuclear Blast, Technical Death Metal
What I learned today: I should be listening to a lot more Psycroptic
When I was a kid I loved spinning in circles until I felt like I was going to vomit. The Inherited Repression reminds me of this; truly dizzying, it swirls and surges, leaps and lurches. However, this ride has a couple nagging flaws that keep it from spinning kids til they puke – namely, too much focus on the midrange.
Psycroptic’s fifth slithers like a viper made of razorwire. Its got Anata-esque hanging discordance, fluid grooves, captivating build-ups, and authentic atmosphere (!). The Haley brothers bring mind-blowing guitar and drum calculus in songs like “From Scribes to Ashes” but the clean guitars at the beginnings of “Deprivation” allow a rest. However, some of the simpler riffing slows the album down – the opposite of the “mandatory headbanging NOW!” parts of Revocation. The biggest problem is the monotonously midranged rough cop/tough cop vocals that have completely dropped both lows and highs.
The Inherited Repression spins faster than a top (in zero gravity) and cuts like Tasmanian steel, but it lacks the bowel-destroying sledgehammer of technical DEATH. This is grade A mathmetal, but, for me, I personally feel more at home in the crypts than the amusement park.
7/10 – Witness to the Void
Eager to say: die!
Either You love it or hate – it’s Your choice but I assume You can’t look indifferently on “Inherited Repression”. This is a sick combo of thrashy driven, mad rhythms and tremolo playing. This is one hell of a trip into madman brain because You have the impression that the melody stands still but it really brandishes his tentacles like a crazy bitch. I love how they managed to create fluid waterfall of riffs. I also see very much of Meshuggah atmosphere in here. Strictly minimalistic and making trance melodies come true. European-alike death is well served in here. Like a cold breeze wind, Psycroptic achieved fresh feeling and groovy style, although I can’t distinguish the songs one from another at this moment.
The weakest part may be the vocals – I agree but the more I listen to “Inherited…” the more I’am convinced they suits here. In other words – they don’t bother me much. They’re flat and washed out from emotions but hey – Psycroptic never done what I wanted to, hehe. One is certain – I can go through this 41 minutes one time after another and I still want more. They’re no exaggerated cult band for me so I have free mind to love this release.
9/10 – Rimmön
My Chalky, My Chalky, My Kingdom For A Chalky.
Psycroptic holds a special place in my Death Metal journey. ‘Scepter Of The Ancients’ is an album that I’ve continually revisited. Chalky being gone definitely took some getting used to but Peppiatt always struck me as decent. I first listened to ‘Inherited Repression’ in one sitting. What I anticipated as the next bold step in Psycroptic’s journey ended up being puzzling. The amazing instrumental work that I count on from Psycroptic hasn’t diminished. Peppiatt certainly has though. There are no growls or shrieks here, only hardcore barking.
My opinion on these vocals has ranged from ‘Maybe I’m just crazy, but these are completely out of place’ to more vitriolic sentiments like ‘Peppiatt has RUINED Psycroptic!’ The truth is far less dramatic. Peppiatt’s vocals are completely out of place, but he can never ruin Psycroptic. In fact, if Chalky were still the vocal virtuoso behind the mic, I think this could have been Psycroptic’s best. As it stands, ‘Inherited Repression’ is a noble experiment. It’s splendid musically but falls extremely short vocally. As a hypothetical way forward, it would be amazing to see Tarren Whitfield fronting both Psycroptic *and* Entrails Eradicated. While I’m dreaming, let’s see something new from Mephistopheles Chalky.
6.5/10 – Goshuggist
Better than their previous releases, but a bit generic
Ah, Psycroptic. Long time, no see. Already I see they’ve improved tenfold since albums like Sceptre of the Ancients, and all the better for it. Where I live, I’m stuck with deathcore as the only local music genre anyone knows, so listening to this is a well-deserved break from the “djent” sound I heard all too frequently.
The first song, Carriers of the Plague, immediately sets a high bar for the album to follow, the tones are perfect, and the drum volumes are incredible. The cymbals collide with the snare and toms to create a wall of slightly decipherable virtuosity, and the double bass pedal work is fast as anything, but luckily not too loud, leaving the guitar work audible, much like Dying Fetus’ War of Attrition.
I have to praise their drummer on this album, the blasts are consistent in volume and velocity, and though there isn’t as much innovation or variation throughout the album, the drums do what they need to do, and create an inane sense of brutality. The vocals are a bit cookie-cutter to be truthful, and sometimes delve into metalcore territory, but nonetheless good. The strings as a whole reek of old school Decapitated, and together the album shows that the band don’t want to slow down, EVER.
9/10 – InexorableRotting
AVERAGE RATING: 7.9/10
Read MoreReview: Brain Drill – Apocalyptic Feasting
BRAIN DRILL
Apocalyptic Feasting (2008)
U.S.A, Metal Blade Records, Technical Death Metal
Most people will pass off Brain Drill as “technical wankery”, i.e. they have technicality and flaunt it tremendously. I will admit that they are somewhat right, but I would put it more in the sense that they took the term “technical death metal” literally, like 4 death metal musicians with Asperger’s. And I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing; It’s never been attempted to the extent that they’ve attempted it, nor pulled off as flawlessly.
Read MoreReview: Hour Of Penance – Paradogma
HOUR OF PENANCE
Paradogma (2010)
Italy, Unique Leader Records, Technical Brutal Death Metal
I discovered Hour of Penance right after they released this album, and I have to say, I’m damn impressed. I’ve always thought that satanists/anti-christians had the best metal, and this has most definately confirmed this. It’s a relentless onslaught which can’t be stopped.
The first song on the album is called “Paradogma”, and it starts the album of with an atmoshperic orchestral string section, that slowly gets louder and louder, and then… BAM! Everything kicks off at Mach 7, before an ear-shattering growl destroys everything. The song carries on for another few minutes, and after this, the next few songs follow suit.
Read MoreReview: Abiotic – A Universal Plague
ABIOTIC
A Universal Plague (2011)
US, Independently Released, Technical Progressive Deathcore
I never believed this was possible.
I might have entertained the notion a couple of times as one of those logical absurdities like sober drunk, promiscuous virgin or peaceful government but even with bands like Rings Of Saturn around, I still refused to believe there could ever be a Deathcore outfit on par with even the simplest of Death Metal. It could be decent, even good at its rarest, but never would Deathcore reach the level of Death Metal, let alone Technical Death Metal.
Read MoreReview: PsyOpus – Our Puzzling Encounters Considered
PSYOPUS
Our Puzzling Encounters Considered (2007)
US, Metal Blade, Hyper Technical/Avant-Garde/Mathcore.
[Before the review proper starts, I'd like to mention that I'm well aware PsyOpus is not strictly speaking 'Death Metal', but I'll be damned if they aren't included on this website among their technical and progressive brethren, especially considering they're quite easily the craziest band in both groups of music. With that nifty disclaimer out of the way;]
Read MoreReview: Arsis – We Are The Nightmare
ARSIS
We Are The Nightmare (2008)
US, Nuclear Blast, Melodic Technical Death Metal
I consider myself a very open minded metalhead. I try not to be prematurely judgmental with bands I’ve never heard, bands that everyone seems to hate, bands that confuse people et. al. but there is a noteworthy percentage of metal I just don’t understand. Black Metal bands described as ‘kvlt’, the majority of Power Metal, Yngwie Malmsteen and a fairly recent strain of technical death metal known as ‘Melodic Technical Death Metal’, represented by bands like Allegaeon, Vale Of Pnath and of course, Arsis. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I stopped listening to melodic death metal almost entirely around sixteen years old. Maybe the mixture of melodic and technical death metal is just fundamentally flawed to begin with. Maybe, as many fans of Arsis will no doubt tell me after reading this, I’m just a tone deaf rube with a weedly deedly fetish. I consider the last two explanations to be the least likely, but whatever the case may be, Arsis and I have never been able to see eye to eye. Not from a lack of trying mind you. I’ve listened to a fair share of their material and the closest I’ve come to appreciating their style is on their first album ‘A Celebration Of Guilt’. It wasn’t mindblowing, but I do consider it good material. It managed to strike a nice balance between the feel of melodic death metal and the intensity of tech-death. A mere two albums later and my sense of engagement is fleeting at best. I don’t fully understand why ‘We Are The Nightmare’ is so difficult to listen to, but the bizarre mixture of boredom and restlessness this release gives me is undeniable.
Read MoreReview: Detrimentum – INHUMAN disGRACE
DETRIMENTUM
INHUMAN disGRACE (2012)
England, Deepsend Records, Technical Brutal Death Metal
Like schoolchildren, the metal community loves to bicker over sub-sub genres. Clearly technical brutal death metal differs radically from brutal technical death metal, and therefore deserves as its own separate entity. Thrash/death vs. death/thrash, doom death, death doom, slamming brutal death metal, slam death metal, guttural slamming brutal death metal…
Read MoreReview: Gallows For Grace – A Process For The Destruction Of Tomorrow
GALLOWS FOR GRACE
A Process For The Destruction Of Tomorrow (2008)
Australia, Skull And Bones, Technical Death Metal
“Death creates nothing.”
“Your death will create an opportunity.”
Part Psycroptic, part Brain Drill, part Dying Fetus and all face melting, Gallows For Grace were quite the young tech-death outfit. ‘A Process For The Destruction Of Tomorrow’ is the perfect combination of sweeps, slams and even bits of outright melody. From the first song outside of the 35 second intro, I knew I was in for a treat. Much like their countrymen Ouroboros, Gallows For Grace knew exactly how to synthesize the elements of death metal they loved into a cohesive and increasingly unstoppable whole. This EP is nowhere near as technical as Entrails Eradicated, Monumental Torment, Viraemia or Hedonistic Exility, but I doubt that was the intention. At their most technical, Gallows For Grace can be compared to a mellowed out Brain Drill via ‘Apocalyptic Feasting’ if they somehow merged with ‘Scepter Of The Ancients’ era Psycroptic and ‘Destroy The Opposition’ era Dying Fetus. Blake Simpson, the extremely talented vocalist alternates between John Gallagher style gurgles, Sean Beasely style barks and Matt Chalky mid pitched and shrieked vocals. No pig squeals, no inhales, no cheap vocal tricks of any kind. The music is that much better because of it.
Read MoreReview: Mindly Rotten – Proliferation Of Disaster
MINDLY ROTTEN
Proliferation Of Disaster (2011)
Colombia, Coyote Records, Technical Brutal Death Metal
“Oh.
My.
Fuck.”
That was the most I could muster after listening to Mindly Rotten’s ‘Proliferation Of Disaster’ in its entirety. I’d known of several Colombian Death Metal outfits before stumbling across Mindly Rotten, (Internal Suffering and Ancient Necropsy being the two most prominent) but no predecessors could give me an indication of what was in store for me with this release. I can now say with the utmost confidence that Mindly Rotten renders Deeds Of Flesh jump roping, hopscotching little girls. They make Cattle Decapitation sound like a bunch of month old kittens. This release has singlehandedly raised the bar for unparalleled brutality, all while writing some of the most technically dazzling and innovative brutal death metal of the past seven years AT LEAST.
Read MoreReview: Xenocide – Galactic Oppression
XENOCIDE
Galactic Oppression (2012)
Canada, Self-released, Progressive / Technical Death Metal
Galactic Oppression via Technical Death Metal? Beam Me Up, Xenocide!
I am a sucker for anything cosmically related in metal. The depths of infinity lends itself perfectly to guitar squeals and rubbery bass. In my iTunes I have multiple playlists devoted solely to those technicians that choose to transverse the cosmos.
In contrast, I am rarely on top of upcoming releases from bands I don’t really know about, especially when they aren’t on one of the bigger metal labels. Hence, I stumbled across Xenocide’s Galactic Oppression album purely by accident – like a small spaceship running into some random object the far off, remote galaxy of the internet. But this is no space junk – this debut fell length contains a wealth of captivating technicality, memorable song writing, and stellar musicianship. The engineers of this vessel, a five piece from Vancouver, Canada, describe their music as “galactic death metal” for fans of “astronomy, death metal, and technology.”
Read More
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- New blood spreads his wings – Recipient13 02/20/2012
- TDM Staff review: Psycroptic – The Inherited Repression 02/18/2012
- Video: Festival of Mutilation – Personal Cosmos (from rec session) 02/14/2012
- Review: Brain Drill – Apocalyptic Feasting 02/14/2012
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- Review: Hour Of Penance – Paradogma 02/01/2012
- Review: Abiotic – A Universal Plague 02/01/2012
