Tag Archives: Psycroptic

Guest Post: Joseph Spiller Of Caricature- End Of Year List

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Caricature video still

As we dash towards the holidays and the end of the year Ghost Cult is feeling good about this season of giving. So we are giving our fans a chance to get to know our partners, peers, and friends  from bands in the world of music. They will chime in with some guest blogs, end of year lists, and whatever else is on their minds as we pull the plug on 2015. Today we have Joseph Spiller of progressive metal band Caricature. Caricature put out the acclaimed Shadows: Maxi Single this summer have a full-length in the works for 2016. Here is Joseph’s “Most Topesty Cool Favorite Releases of 2015”.


1. Tigran Hamsayan – Mockroot

Tigran Hamasayan - Mockroot album cover 2015

How often can an album tote a definite influence of Meshuggah, Dave Brubeck, Keith Jarret, and Porcupine Tree? Add on top that this is still a pure jazz record? Pfffft. This is the sound of someone furthering and redefining a genre.

 

2. Fetty Wap – Fetty Wap

Yeah, before anyone says it sucks because it’s not metal, listen to this record. Fetty is all hits, all the time. Zoogang knows how to make pop hooks as if it’s in their DNA.


3. Steven Wilson – Hand.Cannot.Erase

Steven Wilson, by Melina D Photography

Steven Wilson, by Melina D Photography


Backing band of the century along with the golden god of Prog. Though it gets overly self-indulgent from time to time, Hand.Cannot.Erase is absolutely stunning.

4. Psycroptic – Psycroptic

Psycroptic_ST_Cover-300dpi_RGB

Do you even riff, Bro? Joe Haley most definitely does.

 

5. Ghost – Meliora

Ghost, by Meg Loyal Photography

Ghost, by Meg Loyal Photography


I never got the hype on this band. I actually disliked almost everything prior to Meliora, but goddamn, did Papa bring that A-game with this heavily Dave Grohl “inspired” record.

 

6. Abigail Williams – The Accuser

Abigail Williams The Accuser
Who doesn’t love a good comeback? Possibly the best thing Ken Sorceron has ever done. Crushing and beautiful with rich song structures. BUY THIS RECORD NOW!

 

7. Lamb of God – VII: Sturm Und Drang

Lamb of God, by Evil Robb Photography

Lamb of God, by Evil Robb Photography


After all that went on with Randy, the band came back and tell that tale along with snapshot a troubled time in the world perfectly. The riffs and drumming on this record are some of their best to date, and Josh Wilbur killed it on the production side.

8. Baroness – Purple Record

Baroness_PURPLE_ABXN001_Cover_1600_RGB-LOW

Another “Comeback Record” of sorts. Stronger, more refined, defined. The mesh of only the finest points of Yellow & Green mixed lush instrumentation and what sounds like an intense infatuation with The Cure. This one has it all.

9. Ellie Goulding – Delirium

Ellie Goulding - Delirium album cover - Copy
Though not an immensely technical singer, Goulding has a golden voice. The slight raspiness and harmonically rich tambre makes me envious. This album is LONG for the pop genre, but its all top quality with fantastic hooks meshed with smooth beats and tranquil melodies.


10. Solution .45 – Nightmares In The Waking State

Solution 45 - Nightmares In The Waking State album cover - Copy
If you don’t know who this band is, we probably cannot be friends. GROOVES

EXTREMELY HONORABLE MENTION:
I’ll be Me – Soundtrack

glen-campbell-poster

The delayed release of the soundtrack to the documentary about the legendary guitar player, singer, songwriter, and former member of The Wrecking Crew, Glen Campbell, who has been battling Alzheimer’s Disease for the past few years. This has two live songs from his final tour that will blow your mind considering his state, along with songs from his daughter that will make you cry while your heart flutters. The title track, penned by Mr. Campbell himself as a final letter to his wife and family will give you goosebumps (unless you don’t have a heart.

 

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Brian Giffin – Encyclopedia of Australian Heavy Metal

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The Encyclopedia of Australian Heavy Metal

The Encyclopedia of Australian Heavy Metal (Dark Star) is a thorough listing of most, if not all, of the bands to have been born in the land down under. This is the third revised edition of the encyclopedia lovingly compiled by long time fan Brian Giffin. In his opening he shows the reader just how many people and how much work goes into creating a book of this depth and length. The worldliness of metal is also emphasized. It is clear that Giffin takes Australia’s role on that world stage very serious.

Giffin’s desire to highlight Australia’s presence in global metal is not misplaced. The only Australian band most average music listeners can name is AC/DC. Even then, many mistakenly believe they are from the United Kingdom. Interestingly the encyclopedia seems to confirm that AC/DC are the biggest band to come out of the country. The entry on them is one of the longest in the entire book. One third of the book based resources in the References section are solely written about them. While it is good to acknowledge this part of Australia’s history it also makes the reader wince since the goal of this encyclopedia is to introduce people to all the country’s metal offerings.

This encyclopedia is one of the most in-depth there is out there when it comes to sheer length and number of bands mentioned. Although this is a testament to Giffin’s thoroughness and love for Australian metal it can present itself as a setback. Many of the mentioned acts only have a single sentence to describe them. A good chunk of others read like a “Where Are They Now?” article since there is so much overlap with band members and the formation of new bands out of defunct ones. This is where one wonders if being a completest has been given favor over accessibility. The book may have been more clear and engaging if important bands in certain sub-genres were highlighted and defunct ones were mentioned in the biographies of newly formed bands where appropriate. In defense of the smaller bands being included, there are some interesting entries one may not have heard of otherwise. One such case is the description of Circadian which reads, “Circadian is an enviro-centric one-man doom band…” It makes the reader wonder just how specific one can get with their music approach.

While the encyclopedia is a great example of how passionate metal fans are, it is likely not something casual listeners will be interested in. It is easy for the entries to seem never-ending as the whole work could use more visuals. The wiki version that Giffin mentions in the opening is better for those who just want to look into a few bands from this part of the world. Credit must be given to the man for opening readers’ eyes to just how much music there is to be discovered; especially considering all 342 pages of the encyclopedia is just on metal.

 

The Encyclopaedia is available now via

Lulu: http://bit.ly/1VEkqeC

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1frgKvY

 

5.5/10

MELISSA CAMPBELL

 


Psycroptic – Psycroptic

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Psycroptic_ST_Cover-300dpi_RGB

Psycroptic’s new self-titled album doesn’t quite sound like the extreme metal of 2015. And that’s not a knock whatsoever on the record. It just seems to be from another decade.

An artifact from an era where death metal bands played it no frills. A generation before neck tattoos and digitally altered vocals became fashionable (cough, deathcore). It’s from a time when death metal didn’t dabble in synth atmospherics or space age themes.

While I do enjoy many of those atmospheric/concept minded bands (The Faceless, Fallujah, most artists on the current Unique Leader roster) that are so prevalent today, it’s always fun and even refreshing to hear something more on the raw side of the sonic spectrum. And the less we say about modern American deathcore the better.

While everyone is in fine form, guitarist Joe Haley is still the main attraction. It seems like every nook and cranny on this album is packed with the man’s incessant riffage. See ‘A Soul Once Lost’ and ‘Echoes to Come’ for prime examples of wrist snapping fret action. As strong as Haley’s performance is he never lets the guitar pyrotechnics become overbearing or completely overshadow the songs. Psycroptic is a lean 39 minute recording that is all about tight songwriting and clean production. If anything it’s a little too clean. I would’ve appreciated just a tad more low-end in the mix.

And in that regard, this self-titled offering is much like their 2012 wrecker, The Inherited Repression, Psycroptic’s current musical makeup is as much about groove as it is about death metal and its concussive blast beats. ‘The World Discarded’ is the perfect marriage of tech wizardry and Pantera/Testament groove. It’s a mating of sounds that leaves Psycroptic sounding more akin to Gojira than to Decrepit Birth.

It’s not your kid brother’s idea of extreme metal, but that doesn’t mean it can’t kick all sorts of ass.

8.0/10

HANSEL LOPEZ


Video Premiere: Psycroptic Unveils Stunning Video For Cold

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Psycroptic_ST_Cover-300dpi_RGB

 

Tasmanian tech-death dealers Psycroptic have delivered their new video for the song ‘Cold’ today and Ghost Cult is proud to premiere it! ‘Cold’ is the third single released in advance of their anticipated self-titled new album, due out on March 10th from Prosthetic Records. The single for ‘Cold’ can be bought on iTunes today, Pre-order’s are available now on cd or black LP at http://store.prostheticrecords.com/bands/psycroptic and you can experience the video below:

 

 

Press Notes:

PSYCROPTIC DEBUTS ‘COLD’ MUSIC VIDEO

Third new track from upcoming self-titled release now available digitally via iTunes, Amazon MP3

Lauded as “one of the best technical death metal bands in the world” (MetalSucks), the Tasmanian group PSYCROPTIC will release their self-titled Prosthetic debut on March 10. Watch their music video for the new song “Cold,” filmed by Wilson Bambrick (Deafheaven, Black Breath, Title Fight), at Ghost Cult (LINK) ! “Cold” is now available for digital download via iTunes.

PSYCROPTIC will next be seen on a headlining jaunt across Australia alongside Goatwhore as well as additional support on select dates from Earth Rot, Disentomb, Ouroboros, label mates I Exist and more! For a full list of dates and upcoming festival appearances (including Brutal Assault), scroll to the bottom of this page.

TRACK LISTING

1. Echoes to Come (music video)

2. Ending

3. A Soul Once Lost

4. Cold (music video)

5. Setting The Skies Ablaze

6. Ideals That Wont Surrender

7. Sentence Of Immortality

8. The World Discarded (lyric video)

9. Endless Wandering

 

UPCOMING TOUR DATES

3/12 Perth, AU – Amplifier ^

3/13 Melbourne, AU – The Hi-Fi *

3/14 Adelaide, AU – The New Dead Festival (Fowlers) *

3/15 Ballarat, AU – Karova Lounge *

3/18 Geelong, AU – The Barwon Club #

3/19 Lanceston, AU – Club 54 #

3/20 Hobart, AU – The Brisbane Hotel #

3/21 Melbourne, AU – Wrangler Studios #

3/25 Canberra, AU – The Basement &

3/26 Newcastle, AU – The Cambridge Hotel &

3/27 Sydney, AU – The Factory Theater &

3/28 Brisbane, AU – Crowbar &

6/07 Osaka, JP – Nanba Rockets

6/08 Tokyo, JP – Duo Music Exchange

8/05 Prague, CZ – Brutal Assault 2015

^ with Goatwhore & Earth Rot

* with Goatwhore, Earth Rot & Aversions Crown

# with Goatwhore, Disentomb & Whoretopsy

& with Goatwhore, Disentomb & Ouroboros


Nervecell Streaming “Amok Doctrine”

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nervecell

Nervecell is streaming “Amok Doctrine,” off their newly released album Psychogenocide, out now via Unique Leader Records here.

Produced and engineered by guitarist Rami H. Mustafa at Spellbind Studio in Dubai, UAE with drums engineered by Joe Haley at Red Planet Studios in Hobart, Australia, then mixed and mastered by Wojtek and Slawek Wieslawscy at Hertz Studios (Behemoth, Vader, Decapitated) in Bialystok, Poland, Psychogenocide boasts Psycroptic’s David Haley on session drums as well a guest vocal appearance from Nile’s Karl Sanders on “Shunq (To The Despaired…King Of Darkness).”

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