Indiana's underground death metallers Psychomancer follow their doomed/unreleased, Amid The Smell of Rotting Corpses with this very good six track release. The music is slow paced death metal simmilar to Obituary, Lowbrow, and Six Feet Under, with some doom infulences but in vocalist Shawn Mccormick Psychomancer has one of the most intense singers in the metal underground has ever heard. On opening track "Crucifxion", Shawn goes to desperate screams to guttural lows with equal apolmb. "Chamber of Doom" sees Psychomancer delving deep into there depressive music while the vocals reamin brutal. Psychomancer is one of the better underground brutal metal ablums I've heard in a long time. Hopefully we will hear from them as soon as they are not your tipical death metal band and Mccormick is one of the most passionate growlers/screamers around.
Psychomancer is a death metal band hailing from Michigan City, Indiana that mixes some oldschool death styles with some new. They are basically midpaced for the most part that will throw in some slower tempos and some faster tempos to keep it mixed up a bit. Their style is powerfull and very groove oriented which makes for a damn good release for this midwest death quartet. The band consists of Shawn McCormick on screams and growls, Rob Lawrence on bone crushing percussion, Duston Bullard on thundering bass storm and backing vox, and Brad Calkin on the brutal axe. Shawn vokills are a powerful combination between intense rhythmic growls and insane blackened screams. His accents on the words go along with what is being played behind him, which tends to make the listener's head start bobbin' heavier through out these 6 slower but brutal hymns. Duston's bass playing can be heard pretty well on this disc and throws some killer bass lines in the music while also keeps the rhythm section crushing skulls with Rob. Rob's got some good drumming techniques on the disc. He doesn't use his double kick throughout the whole release but uses it when it's needed and sounds brutal when going into the groove beats. Brad has some good riffage ideas and pounds out the evil sounding tunes with killer chug, chug, action but mixes it up sometimes with some speedy picking techniques. Since the disc has been recorded, a second guitarist has come into the fole. His name is Rob Knopf who is also as brutal on the 6 string. (si'-ko-man'-sur) was recorded at Thundercap Recording in Hammond, IN. Favorites for me include opener "Crucifixion", "Darkness Guides My Way", and closer "Inferno" which has a killer dark, acoustic intro that just starts blasting into a fastpaced vicious song of death.
-Translated to English-
Strange heading is not same? Therefore it is, nor in release has a reasonable explanation for the same, patience. This album of heading esdrúxulo was to be as, however the first one was not launched due to lack of grana of the members of the band, since it would be autofinanciado, a penalty! But the Cursed Prod. Cast brings the band for its and launches the work most recent of these insane people of Michigan/EUA. They are six sonorous torments, nitidamente influenced for old school Death Metal. Riffs in profusion, spreading out itself for air, but does not go to wait absurdly quick sounds. The sound is pure Death Metal, but it is not a wild sonorous avalanche. The vocal one of Shawn "Mutilator" MC Cormick is in the line " Cannibal Corpse" and correlatos well. Prominence for the efficient work in baquetas of Mr. Rob Lawrence, and music "Chamber of Doom" if sobressai before the others five! 8 points
Jaime Amorim
Line-up:
Rob Lawrence — Bone-Crushing Percussion
Shawn "Mutilator" McCormick — Screams and Growls
Brad Calkin — Riff Master General
Duston Bullard — Thundering Bass Storm and Backing Vocals
Does anyone remember the last time a high-caliber death metal act rose from the flat soils of Indiana? How about a mediocre one? Okay... does anyone recall a shitty death metal band from this region? I'm sure that such bands exist, but Indiana isn't exactly known as a consummate stomping grounds for all things brutal. Although I did once hear that the murder rate in Gary is pretty high...
The good people of Cursed Productions (which is also based in Indiana — I guess my ignorance is showing) apparently saw something promising when they signed Psychomancer, and I would say that their decision was a sound one. In fact, there are only a couple of problems I found with this release, the first being the packaging. What we have here is a two-panel insert with minimal liner notes, and a tray card which is used as advertising space. While this certainly seems to be on the "thin" side, I do like the cover art, which is appropriately bleak and effective in its simplicity. My second gripe is with the guitar solos; a great many of them are played by guest musicians. For all I know, these guys could be former band members. However, nothing is explained in the liner notes, so I have no choice but to knock off a few points until this is clarified.
In spite of these two minor hang-ups, things go pretty much uphill from here. One of the first things I noticed (ironically) was the quality of the aforementioned "guest" guitar solos. The most memorable of these performances is that of John Seyring, who follows up on the subtle intro to "Inferno" with a swiftly-executed lick that brings back memories of ex- (and possibly current) Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick. While we're on this subject, allow me to mention that regular axe-slinger Brad Calkin seems to handle his duties competently (albeit with less flash), so I somehow doubt that his ability was a factor when the band opted for outside help.
As for Psychomancer's overall performance, they maintain an impressive level of power and conviction across all six tracks. This is no easy feat when one considers their relatively slower attack, which can be loosely compared to the likes of Obituary and Jungle Rot. All parallels aside, there is plenty of evidence here that the band are doing things on their own terms. Each track ranges from five to seven minutes in length, which allows plenty of space for Psychomancer to employ multiple changes in tempo (sometimes as many as six within a single song). These shifting rhythmic schemes beckon comparison to Death during their "Spiritual Healing" era, minus the more intricate elements. My comments may suggest that this band owes much to the early 90's Floridian death metal scene, but the strong production gives these songs a modern vibe which separates them from the heap. Contact the Cursed Productions website for ordering info.
