Psion: Psion

There's been a buzz slowly building round Psion for some time now, the duo of guitarist Nik Wolf and guitarist/bassist/keys and To-Mera and ex-Haken man Tom MacLean, taking their time to finalise their band and bring their music to life. With Dodecahedron, Ulsect, Our Oceans drummer Jasper Barendregt ensconced behind the kit and Cilice and Ramage Inc. singer Bryan Ramage leading from the front, we finally have a four track (well, three really) self titled EP to savour.

And savour we will, a sound landing somewhere between (as you might expect) Haken, Tesseract and Devin Townsend allowing for a deeply complex but surprisingly accessible delight. Even at three minutes long, "Entranced" is much more of a scene setting opener for "Void" to follow, the short introduction setting the atmosphere as it intrigues the senses. Something that what comes next continues in fine style, "Void" able to switch between a beautiful, captivating six string solo and frenzied smashes of guitar, bass and synth with remarkable simplicity.

It may have taken them a time to get him on board, but Ramage is the perfect vocal outlet for Psion, the singer's ability to hit the mark with small, contained contributions just as impressive as his near mad howls during the music's most manic musings. "Recoil" confirms the promise, dark, brooding soundscapes punctuated by stinging pin pricks of guitar and drumming that's precise clicks and taps one minute, exploding thunder the next, with everything from military marches to outright percussive assaults coming in between. Fittingly "Tyranny" closes out in domineering style, the feeling that Psion have saved their most confident outburst for last allowing this all too brief (although it is 30 minutes long) introduction to live long in the memory. Hopefully a full length album is immanent.

Track Listing
1. Entranced
2. Void
3. Recoil
4. Tyranny

Added: August 18th 2017
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Psion at bandcamp
Hits: 1538
Language: english

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