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Artist: PSY-KICK
Album: Illusion Industries
Year: 2006
Brazilian cyber metal band Psy-Kick was one of those
bands that was featured on Industrialized Metal from the
very beginning, when we did an interview after the
release of their first promo (which was reviewed in here
of course too). Since then, the band have had some line
up changes, have played some live gigs and, maybe the
most important thing, they worked hard on their debut
album which just came out! “Illusion Industries”
contains nine cyber metal tracks, ready to conquer this
ignorant planet. Now I normally don’t review CD’s with a
naked man with mechanized legs and genetalia and a
humane and hairy chest on the front cover, but for this
one I’d love to make an exception!
The first track is called ‘Mass Of Despair’. This song
already illustrates the new path Psy-Kick is walking
after their line up changes. It features a heavy guitar
sound, some cold sampling, hysteric female screams and
excellent clean vocals (reminds me to Deathstars, and
yes, that is a compliment!). It shows that when it comes
to songwriting, you don’t need to teach these guys
anything anymore. More than decent track, which is
although it is quite powerful, quite easy listening at
the same time too. ‘Start The Grieving’ is less complex.
Hard and straight to the point guitarwork mixed with
some great piece of industrial drumming, and we hear
some grim male vocals from time to time too. The chorus,
with the female screaming (“Why?!”) and the clean male
vocals is a catchy one and is really reprensetative for
the whole song. The next song is according to the
tracklist ‘Gods Stupid Planet’, but it turned out to be
an error, because the next song is ‘Lifeless Modern
Life’. It has very strong and heavy guitarriffs (maybe
the strongest of the whole album) and quite an hysteric
outro. The keys are mainly used to create a certain
atmosphere on this track, which turned out to be a real
succes. ‘Temptation’ is a song that was featured on the
“Promo 2004” CD, but Psy-Kick decided to revamp the song
for this debut album. On the promo it was already the
most easy listening track, and that’s probably one of
the very few things that hasn’t changed. The samples are
modernized while they created a whole different outro
with some great black metal guitar riffs. The guitars
are heavy distorted like all over the CD, and we are
also introduced to a different talent of female vocalist
Zasvanna: her clean vocals are outstanding! So, since
track 3 and 5 are swapped, we now get to hear ‘God’s
Stupid Planet’. It has some great, dark synth work which
is brilliantly mixed with some wicked sampling. The
‘duet’ chorus, where clean male and female vocals join
together, underlines the catchy melody even more.
‘Superior’ is a song with the same history as
‘Temptation’. This re-recorded version is more brutal
and wicked than the promo version. Error, the drummer,
is hitting the skins like an animal while the catchy
attitude of the song is still in tact. And for the
industrial part: take a closer listening to the
mechanized intermezzo! ‘Deadly Land’ is the next track.
This track is sonically comparable with ‘Lifeless Modern
Life’ with its heavy guitarsound and atmospheric touch,
although this song is a bit faster and more mechanized.
Some little parts of the sampling even remind me to
trance music! Really original works on this one!
‘Disintegrate/Deteriorate’ is in my opinion the most
experimental track, with a mixture of industrial black
metal and dark metal. The male vocals even sound a
little orchestral here and there, and the atmosphere on
this track is excellent. Before I will have a few words
about the last track, take some advice: wear your
seatbelts, because ‘Dance To Reality’ is fast as Hell
and not afraid to blow you away! A protounding bassriff
that is drilled through your brains, and the double bass
drum parts put a smile on my face every time I hear
them. The clean male vocals aren’t used to create a
certain atmosphere on this track, but more to create
wickedness, and that’s something you don’t really hear
every day. ‘Dance To Reality’ is a great last track of
this record! There is NO band on the world that sound
like Psy-Kick does, and for you people who are always
searching for any critical points in my reviews and
couldn’t find any in this one: don’t bother searching
again, because there just aren’t any. Albums like these
give you two choices. You either say goodbye to your
social life for good and continue your life listening to
this CD, or you invite all your friends and relatives to
party on it. And you better be sure I pick the last
option!
Vote: 99 / 100
Review by: Gerardo |
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01. Mass Of Despair
02. Start The Grieving
03. God's Stupid Planet
04. Temptation
05. Lifeless Modern Life
06. Superior
07. Deadly Land
08. Disintegrate /
Deteriorate
09. Dance To Reality |
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