Adramelech - Psychostasia
Review: Perhaps Adramelech's most Demigod-style work, Psychostasia, with its subtle harmonics, complex melodies, and wide range of dynamics and mood, is delicious old-school death metal for those who remember when "old-school" didn't simply mean "groovy and fast."
The primary axis around which Psychostasia is constructed is the fast, bizarre, melodic phrases which, seemingly inspired by the Norse black metal bands, manage to utilize natural relations between notes from different scales alongside more traditionally constructed single-note and power chord melodies, allowing it both the chaotic evil of Morbid Angel and the flow and listenability of early Amorphis. These are backed by one of the best uses of bass and second guitar in death metal, whose thunder provides a harmonic basis which lends a suffocating "weight", as if drowning in quicksand, the presence of which can be used to quickly switch between dominant moods without losing coherence. Repetition is used tastefully- main themes are stated, and re-stated, but related to new passages, or mutated into recognizable but different forms of themselves, which allows for a surprising amount of focus across an expansive narrative with a wide breadth in mood, from joy to despair, and from utter chaos to tranquility. Vocals are a sinister whisper, and the drummer knows when to blast ahead, and when to hold back.
Obsessed with morbid mythological mysteries, this music screams forth knowledge of immense tragedy, and truly takes joy in the triumph of the forces that overwhelm and destroy humanity, and revels in their greatness. However, buried within these narratives of tragedy, are moments of pure beauty and hope, waiting for the sunlight to come after the fearful night. These moments would be more fully explored on the next album, "Pure Blood Doom", making Psychostasia secondary in importance to Adramelech's final masterpiece. In its own right, though, Psychostasia is a great album, ready to introduce listeners to a wealth of mysteries of death and darkness.