Australian technical death metal band Psycroptic have been around for a fair while now, although it’s the first time this reviewer has come across them. Burned by recent tech death releases, which seemingly aim for the more technical side, whilst forgetting that actually, you need to add in some groove too, its worthwhile erring on the side of caution when approaching the genre. Thankfully Psycroptic are more in tune with the originators of the genre and issue a large amount of the aforementioned groove within their music.
The Pulse Of Annihilation wastes no time in getting to proceedings with a ‘Ashes Of A New Dawn’ exploding off the mark in a flurry of blast beats of intense riffage. Undoubtedly proficient, the band retain a level which doesn’t over exemplify that and ensures that the tech aspects are true to the form of the song. It’s an overarching theme throughout with the onus on providing a “feel” rather than showing off.
They do heavy too, with tracks like ‘Gathering a Venomous Herd’ hitting like a ton of bricks. Vocal wise, the requisite growls are there but never too much that you can’t make out the lyrics. ‘A Sword Of Me’ is another crunching example of a band able to take their time with building the tension before hitting you right between the eyes. That intensity is then ratcheted up a notch on the brutal ‘No Time For The Weak’.
The only real criticism to throw a this album is that the tracks eventually blur into one another. ‘Annihilation Pulse’ is great on its own terms but in the context of the album, exhaustion starts to set in. There is a nice bit of unexpected atmospheric melody which jerks you out of the doldrums however, which sparks hope that the music may progress more. Alas, it’s not long before its back to gnarly technical riffs and incessant blast beats.
These are small concerns though and undoubtedly fans of the band will find much to enjoy throughout this album. It certainly beats a lot of what masquerades as tech death these days, and provides all the requisite thrills and complexities. It avoids the cold, clinical path with moments of groove and runs at you like an out of control freight train, ready to bludgeon your senses. If you like your heavy metal ever so slightly clinical then this is just for you.
