Symbols of Failure

I heard so many good things about these guys and it took me quite a while to actually listen to them. I typically hear that they are one of the best technical death metal bands around. So hearing this I finally gave their newest album a listen.

This record might actually be mediocre (at best) if the vocalist would learn when (not just when but...actually how) to shut up. After listening to just two songs I just wanted to shoot him in the head, repeatedly (probably wouldn't shut him up though). His vocals really aren't that great either so that doesn't really help, just helps make it even more annoying.

It lacks the most important thing, creativity, there simply is none. Sounds like they just threw everything together. A lot of it really doesn't fit in anywhere, pretty much just a collage of random tech drumming and riffs that seem the least bit interesting. The bass is just plain nonexistent, maybe they sacrificed the bass for more of those vocals.

Consistancy can be found throughout the album, but not in a good way. Especially with the guitars, they remain dull and lack variation. Drumming gets repetitive and mindless at some parts. Little variation can be found there either, which really helps kill it.

After listening to this album a few times I now have a headache. I might even be homicidal and that's probably not a good thing. Highlights of this album are the parts without the vocals. These parts seem like they have even a little intelligence behind them, too bad it isn't anything that hasn't been done before.

If you like mindless tech death with no creativity you'll feel right at home with this one. Well at least the album cover is decent.

Australia's Psycroptic has always been wildly overrated, but the hype for 'Symbols of Failure' was just ridiculous. "They don't need guitar solos... The riffs ARE the guitar solos!" When in reality their music continues to be a scattershot and forgettable display of pointless (and slight) riff variation.

The album starts off with a speedy little riff that is okay, although nothing they (or countless other bands) haven't done before. The first 8 seconds of this CD are probably the most enjoyable, after that the vocals start in. The new vocalist isn't any better than the first, his lines basically follow the guitars in a sort a predictably alternating pattern (guttural/slight screech) that becomes tedious very quickly as he just plain will not shut up throughout the bulk of the album.

The guitar sound is incredibly dull for a "technical death metal" band, there seems to be very little thought put into variation of thier overall sound and the album's production in general. The drums are pretty standard stuff, and the bass is basically inaudible. My biggest gripe with Psycroptic is thier riffing: 1 decent riff, and then 200 variations of that SAME riff for a good 40 minutes. After becoming familiar with thier earlier material, I knew what to expect and 'Symbols of Failure' quickly became a chore to listen to more than once.

Overall: A sterile, tedious, and uninspired exhaustion of a few decent ideas.

Before listening to this album, I recall someone describing it to me as "riff salad." As humorous and negative as that sounds, it was in retrospect, a great image of what this album is. However, I'm a man that loves salad. I love beginning with those huge chunks of lettuce, then moving on to some cheese, then the meat, eggs, chick peas, those little miniature bread sticks, and then pulling it all together with a glob of ranch dressing. Delicious. But, before this turns into more of a love for food essay instead of a metal review... I'll continue with Symbols of Failure.

The album is intricate as all get up. It’s diverse, and constantly changing. It’s an album with repetition (so as not to become totally unmemorable), and yet no few seconds seem exactly the same. There are moments that turn epic, on this album… In fact I’d dare to say every song has moments or riffs that reach out, into the sky, and rule supremely over the remainder of the song. The problem with all of this is that listening to a record akin to Symbols of Failure will not be especially “great” the first time around. You’ll be amazed by all of what’s going on, but you won’t be able to grasp it. The beautiful thing about this, however, is that after repeated listens, you’ll begin to notice more and more… Differentiating parts of songs, and remembering particular riffs and sections that will turn the initial jumbled up mess of technical riffs and incredible drumming into a weaving, flowing, arrangement of songs.

Being a fan of Chalky’s vocals from Scepter of the Ancient, I must say that Jason Peppiatt does a good job of capturing the variety and tone of Chalky, while not being quite as over the top. This, though not as amusing and entertaining, seems to actually fit the more sterile aesthetic of psycroptic’s music. As previously mentioned, the guitars on this album are amazing, and cover so much ground that it’s hard to believe Joe Haley isn’t playing two at the same time, Dave Haley also provides some excellent extreme drumming here, that proves to escalate above his peers, being interesting and adding to the epic feel of some songs, with speedy snare hits under running an intense guitar segment.

All in all, this album is psycroptic’s most consistant and dramatic work. Where Scepter of the Ancients faltered a bit at parts, Symbols of Failure remains solid throughout (though I’d say “Alpha Breed,” Missionaries of a Future to Come,” and the final track, “Cleansing a Misguided Path,” are definitely favorites of mine). The only small problem is that people clinging only to immediately catchy, melodic, music will likely be turned off. Then again, those people probably aren’t the biggest fans of technical metal, and extreme music to begin with.

Is there any stopping Psycroptic? The Isle of Disenchantment destroyed us, and we wondered if it could possibly be bettered... Scepter of the Ancients slapped our wrists for thinking so small and confirmed Psycroptic as one of the best death metal bands the world has ever seen, and as if that album wasn't enough (it was), they come along and release another cavalcade of ridiculous musicianship to rival and better any peers that might be foolhardy enough to challenge their supremacy.

Is Symbols of Failure better than Scepter, however? That is a difficult question, and after many listens and deliberations, I have to sit on the fence. One of the reasons Scepter struck many as superior to Isle was because of its immediate catchiness; the insane riffs that accented the former so wonderfully were so inventive and articulate that one couldn't help but think 'what the fuck?' when they first assaulted the ears. That aspect of Psycroptic isn't so apparent on Symbols of Failure, and on the first couple of listens, it might be easy to think that it isn't that worthy of a successor, but like any quality tech death album, it takes a lot of attention and listens to truly recognise the content on offer. In many ways, I believe Symbols of Failure is definitively Psycroptic's strongest collection of riffs to date. Although there are few of those delicate, stilted, 'out-there' riffs that coloured such songs as Cruelty Incarnate, a close listen reveals that over the album's entirety, the songs are much more consistent with their riff quality. Never a band to settle into a groove or a thematically repeating riff, Psycroptic blaze away remorselessly with forever changing shreds; their one guitarist swapping lightning-picked, thrash inspired, beautifully precise rhythm riffs; pseudo-melodic chording; and challening, carnivalesque, rapid-fire high-end sweeps at the drop of a hat. To his credit, there are no simultaneous rhythm/lead moments on the album; choosing instead that everything heard on the disc can be played live with no pre-records. Given the insanity of what is on offer, that is no mean feat. If it could be claimed that some of Scepter's material was overshadowed by a handful of instantly memorable riffs, Psycroptic have remedied that by making every song and moment on Symbols of Failure an equally intriguing and equally challenging display of accomplished songwriting.

In part, this leads me to my only major criticism of the album. Despite the substantial and generous playing time, Symbols of Failure can very easily fly straight past you with not so much as a friendly slap on the ass, instead adopting the wham-bang-thankye-mam of a lesser band's material. This is characterised by the opener Alpha Breed, the weakest track on the album and the most straightforward (although calling any Psycroptic cut straightforward is a grave misnomer). Strict concentration yields a gold-mine of brilliant riffs, inventive drumming and ferocious vocals, but anything less and you won't even notice that the album is running away into the third or fourth track, unlike Scepter where many of the songs began with one of those demarkation perfecting sickriffs. Psycroptic have further exacerbated this potential pitfall by foolishly tracking each song straight into the next; unless you are actually watching the track numbers on your player when you first listen to Symbols of Failure, I absolutely guarantee you will not notice when Alpha Breed ends and Missionaries of a Future to Come begins. Aside from a few of the songs which end with atmospheric space, the album is tracked to be a blur from start to finish, which makes little sense.

If there is justification in such a folly, it might be in the album's theme, which is accomplished and refreshing. Lyrically, all the songs are tied into one theme (as opposed to the heterogeneous stories of earlier albums' lyrics.) Melding their ominous and imaginative fictions with one continuous scenario, Psycroptic have crafted a lyric sheet that falls just shy of 'concept' but surpasses practically any other death metal band's attempts with their cohesiveness and frightening modern relevance. Humanity's intellectual elite hungering for knowledge, run-ins with ancient celestial beings, fatalistic satiation of said hunger, abandonment of materialism and the self, global nullification of individualism, and wrestlings with the boundaries of time; Psycroptic's songs are filled with digestible and original meaning, and the overall package feels much more rewarding as a result.

Who spews these pithy epithets on Symbols of Failure? Unfortunately, not Chalky, but I am far from disappointed with Jason Peppiat's efforts here. In filling-in for Psycroptic's last tour with the absent Chalky, he aquitted himself perfectly; pulling-off what the former vocalist so magnificently vomited and screeched onto Scepter without a hitch. Although what he has recorded on this album does not nearly match the outlandish range of Chalky's timeless performance on Scepter, he nevertheless has a range that shows-up the majority of modern death metal vocalists. There are still rapid fire burps, moderate screeches, and a tempered mid range roar, all laid-out at blistering speed like Chalky before him, so Psycroptic have a dependable new throat; solid and varied, if not as startling.

Which leads me to the drumming. Well, not much to be said there really. Dave Haley still has four arms and pistons for feet, and changing his drum riffs and rhythms every five seconds or so, just like the guitar, which results in my not being able to really give words or examples for his superiority on the kit. Again, a lack of attention will mean everything just speeds past like a new Ferrari, without even the courtesy of running into us and leaving a mangled heap of broken remains behind... but I will give an impressed mention of one moment that screams simple but uncommon genius. Like every moment of noise on the album; digressional, intense and gone before we can truly appreciate it, Haley's drumming on Epoch of the Gods makes my ears come and wanting more. During two sections of the song (at the opening and later nearer the end) when the guitar is, rarely, being slow and ominous, he puts in some rapid-fire triplets or quintuplets on the pedals (I can't quite tell which) underneath the music. It just sounds fucking sweet, and adds much to the dark atmosphere. But simply short, intense moments in an album entirely comprised of such.

Symbols of Failure will not be as highly praised or enjoyed as either of the two preceding albums, but it is in fairness a much more demanding listen, and gives proportional rewards because of its admirable consistency and abundance of jaw-dropping riffage. There is certainly enough brilliance on display to still recommend it to any fan of death metal, and so that I do wih gusto.

(I didn't mention the bass because there isn't really any to be heard!)

Psycroptic has lost nothing after the expulsion of vocalist Matthew Chalk last year. Musically, the band still contains all technical aspects and brutal elements as before, and new vocalist Jason Peppiatt does an excellent job of picking up where Matthew left off. While the vocals are a bit lacking by comparison, I'm personally willing to make a few concessions given the great job and unique style that Matthew presented on previous albums.

My favorite tracks after a few run throughs are the opening track, Alpha Breed (which is available on the Neurotic Records website), Repairing the Dimensional Cluster, and Cleaning a Misguided Path, which concludes the record.

The bottom line is this - if you've enjoyed Psycroptic over the years, this record will definitely satisfy you. If you're new to the band and this your first Psycroptic recrd, you can expect the same sort of quality from their previous releases and should not hesitate to pick them up as well.

A very solid 95/100 and one of my favorite albums of the year thusfar.