The Inherited Repression

Album number five from Tasmania's technical death metal extraordinaire Psycroptic. I had only ever gave Psycroptic a passing interest up until the release of The Inherited Repression, the widely lauded The Scepter of the Ancients failed to register and the other material was good if indistinctive. Strangely here on The Inherited Repression the band have made me bolt up and take notice.

Now, technical death metal is a genre I have a bizarre relationship with, and outside of acts such as Gorod, Anata and Arsis I don't have a massive interest. Too much Necrophagist worship really gets me miffed, and I was pleased to see Psycroptic steer clear. In fact, I've found Psycroptic to be a bit of an anomaly as far as their riff style goes. It has a real bouncy and loose feel, which really sets them apart, and although I know I've heard riffs of this ilk before, I just can't place where. Still, Psycroptic fully embrace the riffing style and every track is full of fluid, gyrating guitar patterns that are really effective. The drums are a standard, clinical affair, but considering the genre I don't mind. Lots of blasting and double bass pedal work. The bass isn't as audible as I would want, and as far as I can gather it follows the guitar instead of breaking free, which is a slight shame.

The vocals are what lets Psycroptic down, they take the tough guy shouting style although since so many bands are utilizing this style now I can let it slide to a certain extent, especially considering how interesting the guitar work is. Another slight downside is that there are a few almost slam riffs to be found in the first half of the album, couple this with the tough guy vocals and things get a little awry. Fortunately there are minimal cases of this, but still it isn't exactly what I want to hear.

Once the album hits "The Throne of Kings" Psycroptic really buck up and prove their worth, and I think technical death metal fans are really going to enjoy this album. This is certainly interesting, and boasts enough in the way of cool ideas and unique riffing style to keep these afloat with the genre's titans. Fans of Gorod, Odious Mortem and Origin are going to want to get their hands on this shit pronto.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com