ASPHYXIUM ZINE

Monday, August 7, 2017

Video Review: PSY:CODE Leech by Jaime Regadas

Leech
From their third full length Mørke, released August 4, 2017
It's a rare scenario when you listen to a song for the first time and become instantly interested. Psy:Code are a group that have managed to evoke that phenomenon with me today and hopefully others, too, on account of their newest single 'Leech' from their third album 'Mørke'. The music is syncopated and jaw-droppingly heavy in terms of tonality although question marks remain over whether the group fit into a 'metal' category. I really don't see the purpose of categorization as far as Psy:code goes seeing as the qualities that define the group are more important. The qualities in question are the fact that they've a firm clasp upon the necessary paraphernalia that is almost pre-requisite for having a keen melodic accessibility. The studio production here is crisp-clear and there's a lot of layers behind the enveloping of quantized rhythms. Verses are quite gloomy and the chorus stands alone with a coloration of optimism which I'm not sure was one-hundred percent part of their initial plan but it sure works efficiently. Sporadically the emergence of synth-pads mark their territory in a non-conspicuous or overly obtrusive manner while in terms of vocal arrangements there's a lot of complexity in the multi-tracking of the voice. The accompanying video is quite nice, too, or at least incredibly well-produced and professional and the lighting works quite elegantly. The 'hardcore' fanatics of underground metal may be a little bit averse to the excessive quantity of staccato riffs and breakdowns within the song, - and the fact that they're a group that write decent and wholesome melodies that aren't obstructed by lo-fi production standards unlike other groups. Nonetheless I really like it - it has a lot of energy and it's ballsy as hell. Yes, it may be streamlined, - but when the biggest criticism one can have of a group is merely the fact that they're accessible it's a sign the group is doing well. I think they're a band that don't aspire to be anything they're not. They just simply… be, which in my opinion is great. -Jaime Regadas

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