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Released on July 15, 2016 via Profound Lore Records
New York based outfit Psalm Zero have delivered their second round of cinematic metal and genre crossover on Stranger To Violence. 2014’s The Drain introduced the strangeness of their sound; the presence of minimal drum machines, lo-fi production and bulky guitar riffs made the record something of a melodic industrial metal ode to new wave. Charlie Looker’s vocals carried melodic choruses and crooning verses, a feature more prominent on this 2016 release. With Stranger To Violence, the project is pushing the sound to new heights of melody and theatrics, yet comes across as a cleaner continuation of the debut.
With Looker’s well-seasoned experimental traits thanks to previous projects such as Zs and Extra Life, Psalm Zero’s resulting sound was likely to meld genres with each release. The opening tracks to Stranger To Violence confirm this, notably ‘Pay Tomorrow’, which is nothing short of infectious. Simplistic driving riffs from ex-member Andrew Hock are backed by the spacious drum machine; the introduction dances as much as it creates an air of gloom. Looker’s vocals make their first and boldest performance with the chorus, crooning over a rising synth lead that screams New Order.
The record achieves high impact on the initial tracks, ‘Real Rain’ being the next highlight with the first glimpse of aggression; sparse pounding instrumentation and militant vocals burst triumphantly into a group chant that goes over so well considering the atmosphere and ascending guitars and synths. Tracks such as these and the title track are evidence that the project can execute their brand of dystopian, often baritone and minimalistic metal very successfully, exercising the juxtaposing song writing of hope and despair at the same time. The pieces following, however, lack the drive or rather the impact that the opening songs did.
The album’s latter half retains the atmosphere, the dark yet elated sensation triggered by the space in the mix of instrumentation, the concise and catchy vocal melodies and above all the 80’s electronics that continue to solidify the bands unique sound. It’s within these tracks that the simplistic value feels dragged out, and the initial grasp of the record slips for me. Though ‘White Psyche’ stands out from this with its varied song structure and well-crafted vocal contrasts between Looker and Hock, the others were lost on me unfortunately by following suit of the tracks prior just without the substantial features. Anyone familiar with industrial metal or even dark wave will have experienced the place of the drum machine, and whether it adds or takes away from the music. It misses the mark on some of these tracks coupled with the song structures and straightforward guitar work. As a whole, Stranger To Violence feels like a handful of solid, unique metal tracks that eventually trails off, despite attempts at differentiation within the sound on tracks like ‘Oblivion’s Eye’.
The loss of momentum may not take away this album’s values for everybody; metal fans who dabble in the realms of dark wave, new wave and post-punk will certainly find strong points to come away from experiencing this record. It will be intriguing to see where Psalm Zero will take the sound and aesthetic on future releases, and Stranger To Violence serves as a stepping stone to that intrigue.
