OB(SERVANT)

Ob(Servant) is the fourth full-length studio album by Australian ( Tasmania) tech death metal act Psycroptic. I think their second album The Scepter of the Ancients (2003) is close to being a classic in the genre and it was with that album I was introduced to the band. Their third album Symbols of Failure (2006) wasn´t as excellent as its predecessor but it was a good album too. The big difference between those two albums was that original lead vocalist ( growler) Matthew Chalk left the band after The Scepter of the Ancients and new lead singer Jason Peppiatt entered Psycroptic for Symbols of Failure and his vocal style just isn´t as over the top insane and brutal as the vocal style of Matthew Chalk. Now some people might say that it´s only a matter of nuance but I think that´s exactly the important thing when you talk about growling vocals. It´s the small nuances in the way they are performed that makes the whole difference. In other words brutal growling isn´t just brutal growling and I much prefer Matthew Chalk´s style over the style of Jason Peppiatt ( not that he is a bad performer by any means). So I´ve been a bit anxious to the prospect of what Psycroptic would do next.

The band´s usual technical death metal style with brutal growling vocals are still the basis but it´s like they´ve tuned down the technical playing a bit. Don´t get me wrong though this is still very technical music but the emphasis seems to have shifted towards a more modern and groove thrashy sound in addition to the fast death metal basis. This is still first and foremost brutal technical death metal though. The songs are all of equal high quality but I do find the album a bit trivial in the end. It´s hard to put my finger on what´s wrong but I´m only mildy excited after listening to the album.

The musicianship is excellent. Tight and razor sharp playing as usual from this band.

The production is professional, sharp and clean but I´m not really happy about the clinical drum sound. It´s a bit annoying to my ears.

I´ve given this one many spins because I really wanted to like it but I guess I just have to accept the fact that the path Psycroptic have chosen just isn´t the one I had hoped they would follow. This is still a good technical death metal release though and it deserves 3 BIG stars from me. I´m sure other fans of the genre will find this album more appealing than me though because it is a high quality album in terms of songwriting, production and performance.

The fourth album from these Tasmanian devils.

Or Tasmanian death metal to be more precise. A band who plays a brand of death metal a bit more technical than Cannibal Corpse, but still have a lot of catchy hooks and riffs. There are even some ounces of melodies here. The music has a lot of small intricate details which really makes the songs comes alive. The bass is very steady and there are even a lot of solid guitar harmonies on this album. Some of them even half acoustic. And that integrated in their very technical death metal. Most of the songs are flowing into each other and the listener are not bored with intros and outros which has ruined many good death metal albums during the last twenty years.

This is a good death metal album which is as attractive as fourteen days in bed with plague to those of you who does not like death metal. But death metal fans can safely invest in this album. I am not overly interested in death metal anylonger, but even I recognice the qualities in this album. A good album from a good band.

3 stars