Psycroptic
Inherited Repression
Nuclear Blast

As ironic a statement as this may be, Psycroptic’s latest release, ‘The Inherited Repression’, is just about as utterly life-affirming as death metal gets. The highly-anticipated fifth album from Tasmania’s finest is a fascinating affair, offering lashings of technical invention draped over a cacophony of dense riffing, pace-dictating drumming and snapping, relentless vocal bile. It’s intense, unrelenting and, quite frankly, should be ticking all the boxes of any self-respecting death metal fan.

While there’s no doubting the anvil-like heaviness of ‘The Inherited Repression’, there’s also a level of accessibility that ensures the album doesn’t get bogged down in its attempts to stand out in this most over-crowded of subgenres – there’s more than a hint of groove and, when Psycroptic see fit, a slowing down of the pace can give the ears a well-deserved respite from the onslaught. It’s this purposeful manipulation of their Aborted-meets-Necrophagist approach that renders this an utterly essential record. Without meaning to undermine the quality and value of any of the album’s nine tracks, it has to be said that the likes of ‘The Throne Of Kings’ and the excellently-named ‘Euphorinasia’ are adrenaline-laden slices of metal brilliance, whilst ‘The Sleepers Have Awoken’ sees guitarist Joe Haley and brother/drummer Dave vying for the spotlight with some stunningly crafted work. Throughout the 40 minutes, there isn’t even a hint of filler, not a second is wasted and that in itself is something to be applauded.

Succinct without being subtle, crushing without being gratuitous, bleakly beautiful without becoming clichéd, this is a storming example of metal at the peak of its powers.

Release Date : 06 February 2012

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Psycroptic/131590956909822?ref=ts

Buy this album from Amazon

Review by Adam Starkey