The Tasmanian technical death metal horde known as Psycroptic are back with their seventh release, titled As the Kingdom Drowns for Prosthetic Records. I've admittedly kind of lost track of these guys since they left Nuclear Blast about 5 years ago, but this is their second release for Prosthetic, and believe me, they have not lost a step, as this latest release is one of their strongest slabs of complex insanity yet. Production wise, As the Kingdom Drowns sounds fantastic, Joe Haley doing a fine job, his guitars just absolutely crushing, the vocals of Jason Peppiatt brutal and in your face, while the rhythms of drummer Dave Haley & bassist Todd Stern dynamic and locked down tight. "We Were the Keepers" bust out of the gate with furious intensity, guitar riffs acrobatic & bulldozing alongside the equally dexterous lead work, some clean vocals in the background adding a nice melodic touch alongside the death growls. "Directive" is another melodic yet brutal ripper, "Frozen Gaze" and "Deadlands" also packing quite a punch with frenzied drumming and equally speedy riffs that seem to dart across the mix at the speed of light. The title cut lays down a ton of groove, the almost doom laden intro leads into some mega-complex riffery from Haley, insane drumming, and Peppiatt's maniacal wailing...just a ferocious song. The band even tap into their prog bag of tricks for "Upon these Stones", jazz-fusion styled bass lines and intricate, brutal riffs colliding over dizzying drum fills while Peppiatt screams up a storm provide for some jaw dropping moments. I mentioned the abundance of groove on this album earlier, and you can really hear that on the undulating, tech-death scorcher "Momentum of the Void", a real head turner that just wins on every level.
Yep, As the Kingdom Drowns is a great one folks, a fairly short album that comes in, completely kicks your ass, and then leaves town after it's laid waste to everything. Psycroptic is back in a big way, so make sure you don't miss this one!
Track Listing
- We Were the Keepers 3:49
- Frozen Gaze 4:07
- Directive 3:29
- Deadlands 3:25
- As The Kingdom Drowns 4:27
- Beyond the Black 3:47
- Upon These Stones 4:54
- Momentum of the Void 4:06
- You Belong Here, Below 2:59
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