Top 10s for 2011: It's a Trap!

The Psyke Project - Only I remain (video)

Tour footage of The Psyke Project compiled into a video for the tune "Only I remain" off the recent "Ebola" split.

MP3: Rising - Mausoleum

Rising represent to me the direction that Metallica should have gone post-"Black album". Heavy and bellowing, but still incredibly melodic and song-based; the exact sort of qualities that made them one of the biggest bands on the planet, albeit in a more streamlined form. Of course that did not come to pass, but we still have Rising and on their new record "To solemn ash" they take the directness of their hardcore background and put it to good use. Not a single note out of place, just straight-up head-banging riffs from front-to-back. Kinda in the same way that countrymates The Psyke Project stripped out all the bullshit to remake themselves into a brutal war-machine, except that Rising have more melodies than all-out mosh. Denmark must be sick and tired of being the Scandinavian underdogs because they sure sound pissed!

Rising - Mausoleum

As We Fight are done

Danish metalcore act As We Fight are calling it quits after 10 years as a band following their final tour with The Psyke Project: http://aswefightdenmark.blogspot.com/2011/11/as-we-fight-says-goodbye-at-end-of-year.html

MP3: The Psyke Project - We came from Earth

Of the many things I love about this tune, one of the more subtle and killer aspects is the absolute lack of drum fills. The Psyke Project started life as an intensely mathy metalcore act, but over the years they've evolved steadily into a lean, mean, no-frills machine. The other thing I love about it: that ridiculously heavy breakdown at the end. It starts off so slow and empty and then only manages to get even more brutal as they hold notes and let them bend into feedback. The rest of their new split release "Ebola" with fellow Danes As We Fight is all just as good too, that is, aside from the other band's material. The less I say about them, the better.

The Psyke Project - We came from Earth

Ebola now streaming

The Psyke Project's new split album with As We Fight "Ebola" is now streaming in full at Bandcamp: http://thepsykeproject.bandcamp.com/album/ebola-full-album
Can't say I'm much of a fan of the AWF stuff, but TPP's new material is really good.

As We Fight - Shattered

As We Fight are now streaming a new tune at YouTube from the forthcoming "Ebola" split with The Psyke Project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QubvicbZnY

The Psyke Project - Battles (video)

New music from Denmark's The Psyke Project, showing off a track from the forthcoming record "Ebola" with a significantly more streamlined sound. I'm not so sure about the goofy texts they're flashing on the screen, but these dudes are most def at the top of the genre.

The Psyke Project - This road to hell

The Psyke Project are streaming a brand new track from their upcoming split LP project with As We Fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY0_mD3tNe4

The Psyke Project + As We Fight = Ebola

Danish brutal hardcore acts The Psyke Project and As We Fight are teaming up for a split album release under the name Ebola to be released on March 21, 2011. The bands also plan to collaborate on future live engagements and you can keep up with the project here: http://www.thisisebola.com/

The Psyke Project to support Nachtmysterium on tour

The Psyke Project will support US act Nachtmysterium for a number of UK and European dates in March:

03/19 - ighting Cocks, Kingston (UK)
03/21 - The Croft, Bristol (UK)
03/22 - Central Station, Wrexham (UK)
03/23 - Moho Live, Manchester (UK)
03/24 - Ivory Blacks, Glasgow (UK)
03/25 - The Well, Leeds (UK)
03/26 - Rock City Basement, Nottingham (UK)
03/27 - Islington Academy 2, London (UK)
03/28 - Engine Room, Brighton (UK)
03/29 - The Frontline, Ghent (BEL)
03/30 - Markthalle, Hamburg (GER)
03/31 - The Rock, Copenhagen (DK)
04/01 - Inferno Fest, John Dee, Oslo (NOR)

MP3: Scarred By Beauty - We swim

I don't really pay much attention to new-school metal, but it makes sense that Scarred By Beauty won best upcoming talent at the most recent Danish Metal Awards because they really are one the best examples of where the genre is at nowadays. All the elements are in good balance: the heaviness, the melodies, the syncopation and technicality, the breakdowns. I hear similarities to bands such as Meshuggah, In Flames and The Psyke Project, but they also throw in a few curveballs like the Deftones, an influence they actually manage to incorporate much better than you might expect. Had I read it before I heard it, I would not have believed it, but these youngsters nail it. Still, not the sort of stuff I really care for, but there's no denying that they are damn good at it.

"We swim" is the title track of their self-released 3-song debut EP. Download the entire thing at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/scarredbybeauty

Scarred By Beauty - We swim

The Psyke Project + DJ Beluga = The Die Project

Danish metal/hardcore act The Psyke Project has teamed up with dubstep techno producer DJ Beluga for a new project called The Die Project whose aim is to transform the band's latest album "Dead storm" into a "universe of dark metal and intense electro dubstep" which will be performed live on-stage in February. Catch a preview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lPNgispxI8

MP3: The Psyke Project - Cursed with care

More Scandinavian ugliness, this time courtesy of Denmark and The Psyke Project. I've covered these guys in the past, but felt like they fell off a bit with 2007's "Apnea", so I didn't pick up on their latest release "Dead storm" as quickly as I should have. Now I'm playing catch-up and I'm happy to report they're back on track. There are few bands as relentlessly brutal as The Psyke Project, so it's not much of a surprise when I see their biggest, most oft-cited criticism is also their biggest virtue. No doubt, it is exhausting to sit through 50+ minutes of pummel, but trust me, it isn't all like this one track and the payoff is worth it. The band does dabble in bits of melody and dramatic postrock dynamics, but of course it's the endless breakdown that I want to focus on today. There's no hooks, no respite; just endless atonal riffing and screaming ala "Damaged I". Ugliness and anger; let me have it, let me feel it. "No one comes in" = "Leave me be". Broken.

The Psyke Project - Cursed with care

Aversionline on the new Psyke Project

Aversionline covers The Psyke Project's new album "Dead storm": http://www.aversionline.com/blahg/2009/09/09/the-psyke-project-dead-storm-cd/