The 'Tasmanian devils', as many people like to call them because of their origin, are back with a brand new album. For one more time, these guys have used their classic weird song titles and I hope they still have their classic kickass sound. I know what you'll say, the album's title reminds you of MESHUGGAH's latest album ObZen, but I have to warn you, these Australian sickos have almost nothing to do with the Swedish Mathcore freaks.

Formed in 1999, PSYCROPTIC managed to become known to the underground Death Metal scene really quick with their kickass debut album The Isle Of Disenchantment. To tell you the truth, I consider this band to be one of the best and most brutal technical Death Metal bands out there. Probably the best moment of their history as a band is their sophomore effort The Scepter Of The Ancients, but to tell you my dirty little secret, I am a huge fan of Symbols Of Failure.

So, the band leaves the Dutch label Neurotic Records and inks a brand new deal with the colossus Nuclear Blast, something that scared the shit out of me since the German label has started tearing bands apart with its new musical vision. Ob(Servant) fortunately was not what I expected to hear. After the contract with Nuclear Blast I thought that PSYCROPTIC would be all about modern stuff and Mathcore breaks. Thank the Metal God they have kept many of their old classic elements that made them what they are today. The only bad thing is that they don't have that amazing singer they had in their first two albums. Matthew Chalk is one of the best Death Metal singers I have ever heard, since his vocal range is unbelievable. Peppiatt is unfortunately inferior...

The fact is that the face melting shredding by Joe Haley is still here, enriched with some more modern sounds to tell you the truth, and the incredible drumming by the beast known as David Haley will definitely make your ears bleed. Not to mention the amazing cooperation between David Haley and Cameron Grant, something that makes them one of the sickest rhythm sections in the technical Death Metal scene. Ok, great album. What now?

As I mentioned above, there are some slight modern touches that fortunately didn't change the band's music a lot, but they surely had some affect on it. Nuclear Blast has this 'gift'. You know, changing bands... The thing is that PSYCROPTIC seem to be haunted by the success of The Scepter Of The Ancients, which is a fan favorite until now and since they didn't manage to create an equally good music wise album, they decided it was time for some minor changes. I am not trying to bury the album, but that's life. Whether you remain a classic technical Death Metal band with a devoted fan base, or you risk everything in the name of success. The good thing is that PSYCROPTIC are still a kick ass band and I hope it stays this way. I was just a bit scared that we'll have one more MESHUGGAH clone in the future and that's something they don't deserve.