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PSYCHOANOREXIA

T

Neo-Prog


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T Psychoanorexia album cover
3.90 | 289 ratings | 21 reviews | 26% 5 stars

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Studio Album, released in 2013

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. The Aftermath of Silence (18:07) :
- a) Event Horizon Sunset
- b) The Last Day of Summer
- c) The Stone-White Sky
2. Kryptonite Monologues (20:47) :
- a) Breakfast Cataclysm
- b) Borrowed Time
- c) The End of a World
3. The Irrelevant Lovesong (8:09)
4. Psychoanorexia (19:29) :
- a) Bedhalf Exiles
- b) The Stand

Total Time 66:32

Line-up / Musicians

- Thomas "T" Thielen / all instruments and vocals, producing & mixing

Note: The actual instrumentation could not be confirmed at this moment

Releases information

Artwork: Katia Tangian

CD Progressive Promotion Records ‎- PPRCD011 (2013, Germany)

Thanks to jerrycornelius for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
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T Psychoanorexia ratings distribution


3.90
(289 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(26%)
26%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(36%)
36%
Good, but non-essential (26%)
26%
Collectors/fans only (8%)
8%
Poor. Only for completionists (4%)
4%

T Psychoanorexia reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Windhawk
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
5 stars German project T is the creative vehicle of one Thomas Thielen, once a member of the German band Scythe, but now with a solo career that has been ongoing for more than a decade. "Psychoanorexia" is his fourth full length production, and was released at the start of 2013 by the German label Progressive Promotion Records.

"Psychoanorexia" is an album that arguably may be placed within a neo progressive context, albeit at the very borders of that style and even then stretching it quite a bit. Sporting a plethora of themes with great variety in pace, intensity and overall expression, liberal use of electronic effects and an overall modern sound, this is a production that should appeal to the progressive rock explorers of today: people with an interest in sophisticated rock created and delivered with a foundation in the world as it is right now.

Review by Warthur
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Opening with a synth-derived sample-laden spacey passage reminiscent of the more tripped-out moments of Porcupine Tree circa Up the Downstair, T's Psychoanorexia finds the the talented multi-instrumentalist playing an interesting mashup of neo-prog and space rock. Less theatrical and melodramatic than the Pendragon/Arena tradiition of neo and more placid and tranquil than the IQ tradition, the enigmatic T (AKA Thomas Thielen) shows an exceptional command of all the instruments he sets his hand to over the course of the album. I was honestly surprised to discover that T is a multi-instrumentalist, since here he shows a remarkable ability to evoke a full-band sound, but whilst he's certainly got a flair for long-form compositions they do tend to lean a bit too much on the same ideas.
Review by BrufordFreak
COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Ambitious. Clever. Creative. Familiar. Mysteriously (dis-)organized and emotionally distant. This album reminds me quite strongly of 2009's The Underfall Yard by BIG BIG TRAIN, 2011's War and Peace and Other Short Stories by SEAN FILKINS as well as a large part of THE FLOWER KINGS discography in that the musicianship is top notch, the songs are very elaborately constructed, the engineering and production is excellent but, ultimately, something is missing--something in the music that fails to connect with the listener. Whether that is melody, repetition and/or recapitulation, or meaningful/comprehensible use of its extreme dynamics I am not sure. While I connected with the album opener, "The Aftermath of Silence" immediately--and continue to enjoy it start to finish?and liked and now love the third song, "The Irrelevant Love Song", repeated listens under many varied conditions (car ride, headphones, at the computer, iPod while working) to the albums other two epics, "Kryptonite Monologues" and "Psychoanorexia" always leave me numb, irritable, or dumbfounded. Sure, there are many impressive quirks, tricks, and instrumental displays, but the short-term and overall effect of the two songs leave me completely disengaged and disappointed. I cannot criticize or fault their ambitiousness and amazingly mature "band"-like feel to the instrumental performances and mixes, but M. Theilen's complex, meandering music seems to serve a purpose known wholly only to him.

1. "The Aftermath of Silence" begins in outer space (Maybe Major Tom's capsule?) before descending into an eight-minute tribute to THE CURE's 1989 masterpiece, Disintegration. At the 9:50 mark, the song's feel shifts rather dramatically, though continuing in a slow, Cure- ish manner, only with treated drums, arpeggiated electric guitar, higher-register bass play, and background Mirek Gil-like blues guitar soloing in the background. In the fourteenth minute there is a brief presence of Jon Anderson's voice before some "strings" and then piano and "brass" take over (how BB TRAIN-ish!) The collaborative weave builds to a nice crescendo at 14:53 before falling away to piano arppegios and the sound of children's voices on a playground in the background. At 15:38 the now familiar--and quite-well- hooked into our brain--vocal melody returns for a minute before a brief cyber-glitch pause ensues before a searing, if brief, guitar solo breaks loose, only to quickly disappear as the song fades out with only the piano's arppegiated chords slowly fades among the background noises of space and playground children. Excellent song start to finish and not overly clever or complicated, with plenty of recurring themes to help us stay engaged. (10/10)

2. "Kryptonite Monologues" (20:47) begins full blast and continues to deliver music at a volume and urgency that reminds me quite a lot of France's NEMO--rocking on the harder edge with quirky, complicated twists and turns in the music, literally stopping and starting on a dime, changing directions (mystifyingly and often frustratingly, even gratingly). I have to admit that I feel somewhat disappointed and almost cheated with M. Theilen's use of effects to mask his natural voice (which I quite like). The sixth minute is quite reminiscent of some of Gabriel-Era GENESIS' more grating, quirky moments ("Get 'em Out by Friday," "The Battle of Epping Forest"). The song's highlight comes at 8:15 when "full orchestra" accompanies a powerful vocal section in a Broadway moment. Alas! It is all too brief. (The most common theme in this and the album's last song.) The vocal babeling of the eleventh and twelfth minutes is mystifying (Oh! So MARILLION!) The next three-chord rock section is a bit over-the-top but then an interesting SIMPLE MINDS/PSYCHEDELIC FURS sections sneaks in and then a quirky synth solos along with Thomas's Bowie voice! Quite a little NEKTAR feel to this fifteenth minute. Then it, too, is gone, replaced by a kind of 80's FIXX guitar strum sound. Then a ROY BUCHANAN/RANDY BACHMAN-like guitar sound solos while a radio-like voice talks in the background. And here is my complaint: All these changes are just so odd! Too what end--what purpose, what reason? At the 15:48 mark begins another SEAN FILKINS/BIG BIG TRAIN section of delicate floating, horn-supported mujhsic. Another highlight?and this time T actually sustains it for a full two minutes before drums and other instruments begin joining in. The song then floats down and away into the final two minutes' peaceful section with piano gradually joining in as synth washes and a very-background treated voice continues to sing to the end. Unfortunately, the beauty of the last three minutes cannot make up for the confusion of rest of the song. (7/10)

3. "The Irrelevant Love Song" (8:09) is a rather straightforward song that reminds me quite a little of some of the more recent work of PHIDEAUX. Great use of rhythms, more gradual dynamic shifts and the best vocal on the album?such a strong voice in this mid- to low- range--all built over a very insistent low chord progression (anyone else here LED ZEPPELIN guitar chord progression?) Solid song start to finish. (9/10)

4. Like PORCUPINE TREE's Fear of a Blank Planet, T's fourth and final song, the album's title song, "Psychoanorexia" (19:29), I think this will be remembered for being so perfectly exemplary of its day and time. The catch words and colloquialisms (in English) from our current cyber-world as well as the chaotic, high-stress edgi-ness to the music does give it some power. In bursts and segments. (7/10)

Again, though I appreciate the tremendous effort and skill that went into the creation of this album of sophisticated music, there are too many twists, turns, and sections that fail to take me in and keep me engaged. And I miss the blatant David Bowie-like vocals T employed more (and with great effect) on Anti-Matter Poetry. Obviously there is some personal, subjective reasoning for this, but at the same time, not unlike the albums mentioned in my opening paragraph, the flaw of failing to achieve and maintain personal attachment makes this album difficult for me to rate "a masterpiece."

4 stars.

Review by J-Man
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Known simply as "t", German multi-instrumentalist Thomas Thielen has been recording music as a one-man act since his time with the short-lived progressive rock act Scythe ended, and 2013's Psychoanorexia marks the project's fourth full-length album since its 2002 debut. It's my experience that one-man bands often feature a weak link in the instrumentation, but Thomas Thielen is a deeply talented musician across the board; no instrument here outshines another, the arrangements are remarkably textured, and there is an attention to detail on Psychoanorexia that makes it easily stand out from the crowd. When the stunning vocal harmonies are also factored into the equation, it becomes clear that we are really dealing with something special here.

Thielen's music can best be described as neo-progressive rock, albeit a rather unconventional approach to the style. Imagine a more experimental version of Brave-era Marillion, and you're halfway there - Psychoanorexia is a very atmospheric and ambient listen, but it still is 'busy' enough to scratch that prog itch. Although it only contains four tracks, Psychoanorexia clocks in at over an hour, as three of the songs here are around the twenty minute mark. The shortest track is entitled "The Irrelevant Love Song", and is actually one of the album's highlights. This is an example of a prog ballad done right! Of all the more extended pieces, the title track is my favorite (if only by a small margin); its ending segment sends chills up my spine every time.

Psychoanorexia is a near-flawless effort in my eyes, and anyone that enjoys melancholic progressive rock music with a bit of an edge is bound to love it. The only real knock I can give the album is the sound of the drum machine, which (in spite of how well-programmed it is) sounds a bit artificial to these ears. I'll admit that it's nitpicky complaint, though, and it hardly detracts from the overall experience of Psychoanorexia. This is a strikingly beautiful observation that stands tall as one of 2013's finest recordings!

Review by Guldbamsen
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Retired Admin
2 stars Grandiose dad-prog

The prog world is currently overflowing with one man acts, and with all the modern technologies available, it now is possible to achieve something akin to a full band sound without having to deal with superfluous banter and discrepancies between members. The search for full control seems to be right there on the horizon.

The question beckons though - do we, as simple fans of music, want our patterned sound to be as concise as that, or do we want that irreplaceable shading of something crooked and out of sync present? To each his own I guess, and while I was, and am, very impressed by the musicianship of Thomas Thielen, I still miss something audacious and raw from this album. Something that rips me by my hair and throws me on the bed and..........hold on a minute, I may be talking about something different here - and I'm not even a girl...

The previous gibberish may come across a little harsh, especially when you count in the fact, that there are heaps upon heaps of current prog bands doing the exact same thing. The Flower Kings spring to mind. For my tastes the music becomes far too safe and predictable. Inside of 5 minutes with this kind of music, I get restless and start looking around my apartment for mice, lice and thrice as much dice as I'll ever find on here. I played this album to one of my friends the other day who also happens to be very much into progressive rock, and he said it sounded like "dad-prog". I laughed a little first, but I completely understand where he's coming from.

Take a dash of Camel flavoured vocals tinged with an ability to reach highs that Latimer can only dream of. Mix this with lush piano driven melodies, synthesizer leads, sky soaring guitar solos, a metronomically tight rhythm section, all kinds of keyboards, and out on the other side comes this melody based prog that feels as docile and friendly as a fluffy hug from a care bear.

My favourite parts of this album are to be found in the ambiances. At times I swear I can hear hints of The Cure in the ambient keys oozing up from the back, and that is a big compliment coming from yours truly. More than once I found myself thinking of the opening cut on their 1989 album Disintegration, I'd just wish there was more of this, and that it wasn't diluted by what genuinely sounds like latter day Marillion.

If you're into the current line of prog acts such as Nine Stones Close, The Flower Kings, Karmakanic, Sylvan, Arena and Pendragon, then I guarantee you'll love this baby! Without a doubt! I have to be honest though, and I find very little that tickles my fancy on Psychoanorexia. To me this feels like prog by the numbers, no matter how talented and refined Thomas is behind the instruments. Sorry, but this just isn't my bag.

Review by Guillermo
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Some months ago I was chatting with a musician in Facebook, and we were chatting about musicians being in bands or being full time soloists. I said to him that, in my opinion, being in a band is very hard for some musicians because in bands there are a lot of 'politics' and 'egos' about who is going to be the 'leader' or the 'main star', and that in bands there are one or two musicians who like to dominate the others and that with the passing of time this situation makes the bands split (this has happened a lot of times in a lot of bands, as their histories say). So, in my opinion, sometimes the best solution for a musician to develop and enjoy the freedom to create his own music (or her own music, if it is the case) is to be a full time soloist, to have his own home recording studio (which now is easier with the use of computers) and to do what he wants with total freedom. It is also easier to have total control of the final product (and the potential monetary earnings of his own very hard work ) because now the so-called major record labels are really not very much needed thanks to the existence of the Internet and some websites on which the musicians can share or sell their albums or songs. So, this album is another example of a 'one man band'. I don`t have any objections about it.

This album by German multi-instrumentalist and singer T (Thomas Thielen) is not a very easy to listen to, and the lyrics and the concept of the album are not very easy to understand without visiting his personal website to read them. It has four songs, with three of them almost reaching the 20 minutes of duration and one of them the eight minutes of duration. So, for this reason it is a bit hard to listen as the listener becomes a bit tired by the end of the album. The kind of music in this album, in my opinion, is very Progressive Rock, with a lot of contrasts in the intensity of the music, sometimes being very heavy, sometimes being quiet, sometimes being very 'dark' and dramatic. I think that this music has a lot of influence by bands like Marillion (with both Fish and Steve Hogarth as lead singers, but maybe with more influence by Hogarth, a period of that band which is not very attractive for my taste), Arena, IQ, and Genesis with Peter Gabriel, more in the dramatic and sometimes 'dark' elements. As T explains in his personal website, the lyrics are very personal, very related to a period of his personal life, and the lyrics (as I understood them) have as central theme the loss and grief of significant personal relationships, and how to survive them, and the other theme is a political and sociological criticism towards the lack of psychological and intellectual ambition by some people in the 'modern' world (I think that this is the meaning he gives to the word 'Psychoanorexia', which also is the title of the album). So, as a whole this album requires some 'concentrated listening' by the listener, and to be listened to several times to appreciate it. It is a bit 'excessive' in some things, and hard to listen to sometimes. It really is not the kind of music that I like to listen to very much in the present, but for the fans of this kind of music it really could be a very interesting listening. It also has a lot of work. Maybe it took to T a lot of time how to plan, to compose, to record and to mix the album. The lyrics were written in a two year period. So, because this album really took him a lot of time to create it, in my opinion it deserves a four star ratting even if this is not the kind of music that I listen to very much often in the present. The recording and mixing is very good. The same is for the playing of the instruments, and he is also a good lead and backing singer. Some lead guitars are very good in playing and sound, and there are also some very good atmospheres created with the use of keyboards. The drums sound a bit programmed, but they sound good anyway. The cover art is also good, very much related to the content of the music and lyrics of the album.

Review by kev rowland
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Reviewer / Special Collaborator
4 stars Both in the press release and on his website, Thomas Thielen has a mission statement about this album which is well worth reproducing here. 'This is the time when ringtone applicability equals musical quality. This is the place where the greed of being a popstar has replaced the sublime experience of creativity. This is the era in which democracy means mass phenomena, not choices. When we have become too lazy even for subterfuges. And too busy to feel the loss. This is the age when equality means mediocrity, fame defames excellence, education encourages despondency. We excel in conformity, we celebrate our empty hands. We may not burn books, but we skim them. We may not slaughter heretics', but we overshout them. We strive, long, hunger for nothing, thus nobody strive, long, hunger. Fascistic, yet aimless aposiopetic selves. Timetabled freedom. Death in Bologna. Psychoanorexia.'

Yes, this is an album that wants, in fact demands, that we think. Thomas wrote, performed, recorded, engineered and produced the album but it doesn't come across as a one-man band, as it is so carefully constructed and layered. The piano may well be the bedrock of all that he does, but this is more than just a pianist attempting to bring in some other instrumentation to pad it out, but instead this is all about the right instrument for the right emotional feel and approach. When he brings in electric guitar it fairly blasts out of the speakers, with 'Kryptonite Monologues' actually managing to have more than just a hint of Rammstein about it. There are times when this is crunching stadium-filling anthem rock with blistering guitar solos, while at others it is Muse on steroids, Floyd for the masses, Porcupine Tree for the many.

It is not an album that will make its' full presence felt on just one or two plays, this does need some work but rewards the listener for their patience. Apparently Thomas states that he is a 'strictly under-average musician on quite a few instruments, none of which he is capable of playing properly'. Somehow I think he is a master of understatement, as certainly that doesn't come across on the album. Complex, complicated, majestic and soaring, this is quite a piece of work. There are only four songs, but it is still well over an hour long, and well worth investigating.

Latest members reviews

5 stars This is a classic piece of modern progressive rock and no questions asked. Well, alright, there be questions asked. Hopefully also answered. In this review. Thielen's latest work is something like an "all of the above" of what is, on the one hand, typical of *good* progrock: Versatility in compo ... (read more)

Report this review (#1073284) | Posted by vir_casae | Wednesday, November 6, 2013 | Review Permanlink

5 stars As there seem to be problems on the site, I write my lines on Psychoanorexia once more: Lyrically as well as musically, t sets new standards in the prog world. Yes, I am serious. This is a new horizon in melodic prog, namely that its melodies are less pathetic and sugary, but more sophisticated ... (read more)

Report this review (#1049778) | Posted by champone | Wednesday, October 2, 2013 | Review Permanlink

5 stars I am writing this review for the second time as my first one vanished with all the other reviews I did. Server crash? This is to me still the album of 2013 so far. The eclectic approach simply adds so much to our beloved genre that I have been missing before. There are guitars reminiscent of The ... (read more)

Report this review (#1048415) | Posted by onlineman | Monday, September 30, 2013 | Review Permanlink

5 stars I received a message of Thomas Thielen (T) asking me for a review of his album "PSYCHOANOREXIA". First, I was surprised because I didn't know this project and to receive a personal message grew my total interest. I looked for the album and finally could get it, and believe me, I could not beli ... (read more)

Report this review (#1040764) | Posted by Memo_anathemo | Saturday, September 21, 2013 | Review Permanlink

3 stars To those new to this artist page (like I was only recently), this is mostly slow-moving, atmospheric music, led by delicate synths and somber vocals, and only occasionally punctuated by some instrumental noise and Genesis-like theatricality. Somehow, it is immediately clear that this is a one-m ... (read more)

Report this review (#1033797) | Posted by Progrussia | Thursday, September 12, 2013 | Review Permanlink

3 stars I have to agree with David (Guldbamsen). The good side of this album is the ambiences. T is Thomas Thielen. Yeah. It's another one-man band. When you are alone to write, play and record all the instruments you are free, able to make what you really feel. Sometimes is good, but sometimes wha ... (read more)

Report this review (#1025664) | Posted by VOTOMS | Friday, August 30, 2013 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Psychoanorexia is a beautifully crafted album full of deep-mellow soundscapes that is sure to put the listener into a full state relaxation, enjoyment and make you think as well.' My first feeling is this, if you decide to create a mellow album it should be in the form of T's Psychoanorexia. I ... (read more)

Report this review (#1009362) | Posted by progbethyname | Thursday, August 1, 2013 | Review Permanlink

5 stars Having seen plenty of strong reviews for this album I thought I'd weigh in with my own opinion. "The Aftermath of Silence" - Starts off softly with psychadelic voices and sounds before the grand entrance of the instrumentation and a beautiful Peter Green like guitar tone. The vocals are ric ... (read more)

Report this review (#1000341) | Posted by sukmytoe | Wednesday, July 17, 2013 | Review Permanlink

5 stars This is my first album review -EVER! Normally I just listen to an album and like it (or most often: not). I donīt preach and I donīt want to impose my taste on others on a highly subjective matter such as music. Well, I will make an exception here! This album is SO good, I JUST HAVE TO tell the wo ... (read more)

Report this review (#982671) | Posted by vircasae | Thursday, June 20, 2013 | Review Permanlink

5 stars I've been listening to t's music for quite some time now, and you could definitely call me a humble fanboy by now. The way he always manages to create new spheres in the musical cosmos is simply stunning. By that I mean the compositions as well as the arrangements, and not least his vocal work. I t ... (read more)

Report this review (#976647) | Posted by herne | Wednesday, June 12, 2013 | Review Permanlink

2 stars I recognise that I am swimming completely against the tide, here. Current average score would suggest that, in its entirety, this is a piece of musical wizardry that has few equals in the annals of prog history. I just don't see this at all, I'm afraid. The first and third tracks are undoubtedly ... (read more)

Report this review (#956718) | Posted by tbstars1 | Thursday, May 9, 2013 | Review Permanlink

5 stars I have noticed that their have been mixed reviews for this offering and I understand why. On first listening I found it difficult to sit and listen all the way through and finally gave up after the "Irrelevant love song". The next day I gave the title track a go and enjoyed this epic track. I a ... (read more)

Report this review (#937194) | Posted by staunch | Saturday, March 30, 2013 | Review Permanlink

5 stars ... isn't like anything else, but is simply t... If I had to describe (no, I am not going to do that!) the new album by t in one word, I would simply say: "It's t-approved!" They should have created a big wooden stamp with a big "T" on it when this album was released. The cd should then h ... (read more)

Report this review (#916413) | Posted by Xylvanya | Wednesday, February 20, 2013 | Review Permanlink

4 stars The fourth album of Thomas Thielen was written between 2010 and 2012. The songs sound like a mix of modern crossover-prog like Radiohead or Archive and modern neoprog like Marillion. The warm but sometimes also lonesome voice of Thielen leads the listener through the concept of a deep psychologi ... (read more)

Report this review (#901812) | Posted by jerrycornelius | Tuesday, January 29, 2013 | Review Permanlink

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