Psyopus
Ideas of Reference
Black Market Activities
Fascinating! Psyopus is the kind of band that you have never heard, and will probably never hear again. Incredibly unique, ridiculously talented and completely spastic, Ideas of Reference is the first record this year that I can actually blame for giving me a headache (it honestly did, I swear).
So, what is it about Psyopus that could give the listener an immediate headache? An overabundance of notes is the culprit. I have never heard so many notes played on a guitar in such a short amount of time. It’s really quite amazing. The guitarists do all sorts of weird scales, and they play them flawlessly and ridiculously fast. The bassist is just as much of a spazz, as he often keeps up with the guitars as they fly in every direction at light speed. The drummer is one of the best metal drummers I’ve ever heard, in the math-metal, Dillinger Escape Plan sense of the word. He changes times on a dime, throws blast beats here and there and sounds as if he’s using five or six arms to play his parts. It’s absolutely mind boggling. The vocalist, who sounds like a chugga-chugga band’s deep-throated tough guy, fits rather well within this crazy cacophony.
One of my favorite songs on the album is the wonderful “Death, i…,” which opens with a clean guitar jazz ditty, only to give way to one of the most absurdly fast and insane songs I’ve ever heard. I said before that this album gave me a headache, and it did, upon first listen. I’ve actually listened to it several more times, without a headache, and I’ve been blown away every single time. I guess you could say these guys are math-jazz-death metal, but their music is truly beyond comparison. There is just no other band like Psyopus.
Psyopus: http://www.psyopus.com/
