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PSYCROPTIC
is a Brutal death band from Australia who includes several extreme
metal styles in the Brutal melting and achieves composing some very
cool tracks! The Australian scene is stronger than what I thought
few years ago, and here's a good exemple!
1. Hi PSYCROPTIC! How do you do and are you ready for this interview?
Hi, I'm good thanks, and cheers for the interview.
2. Do an introduction of the band since your not known in Europe.
Psycroptic are an death/extreme metal band based in Tasmania, which is a state of Australia. We've been together since mid 1999 and we've released "The isle of disenchantment" and we're just about the release "The scepter of the ancients" through Unique Leader records. For those who have not heard of us, please go to www.psycroptic.com to check us out.or come and see us live when we come to Europe in 2004!
3. Your music is a technical kind of Death metal that includes several influences: technical Death metal, some Brutal Death, some techno Death and some Heavy metal touches! You must be quite open-minded musically speaking! How would you define your musical style?
Yeah, I would agree that there is a lot of different influences in our music, and we are very open minded when it comes to music. It’s hard for me personally to define our style, basically because I'm too close to the music, you know? I like other people to define the style we play, because they are the listeners. I would say that if you had to put us into a category, then it would be death metal. But we think there are no rules when it comes to playing this style of music. If it sounds cool to us and fits in with the song, then we use it. It’s metal though, I can say that for sure!
4. What are the main influences that were important in your style?
Just metal I would say. We all listen to different styles of metal and take inspiration from it all. If its good and it gives that 'special' feeling, we listen to it. From really old school stuff right through to the latest stuff..from traditional metal right through to brutal blasting death grind and black metal.
5. Where you into technical techno death bands like old ATHEIST/ DEATH?
Yes, we listen to these bands, but I wouldn't say they directly influence us in any way. They are just great bands. We don't aim to play a similar style as them. We just do what we do.
6. One point that quote my attention is your music is technical, but also very tight and the whole band is very synchronized to the shit, as a Brutal grinding Football team! How long do you rehearse each week with the band? Does it take a lot of personal time to work on your instruments?
Thanks very much for your comments. We basically practice about 2 or 3 times a week as a band, for about 1 or 2 hours. Aside from this, we all practice our instruments in our own time. Depending on how busy we all are. I try to play drums for about an hour a day. But this is hard because of my school studies. Once I finish, I hope to play for about 2 hour a day. The other guys in the band also practice fairly often...but it really depends on what else is going on.
7. What about your lyrics? Do you enjoy political ones? Fairytales? Satanic/ Dark visions? Brutal/ Gore ones?
Well, for Psycroptic I prefer them to be fantasy..Matthew writes all the lyrics for us. So it is really up to him in regards to what they contain. But, for Psycroptic he prefers fantasy as he feels these are most representative of what we do. I like to read all different types of lyrics, so I have no real preference - just so long as they are good!!
8. You've signed to UNIQUE LEADER for your new album! This one is the home of total American Brutal Death metal bands! Do you enjoy this kind of stuffs? What do you expect from Unique Leader and where there other interesting offers?
Yes, we're signed to Unique Leader for the release of "The scepter of the ancients". All the bands on the label I've been listening to for years, and they all rule. This label just doesn't sign shitty bands. haha, well they have now with us on there! All the bands on the label are great, and I think Unique Leader are quickly becoming the new label for quality death metal. We got a couple of cool offers from some other labels, but we really couldn't pass up an offer from Unique Leader, as they rule!
9. Why did you choose PSYCROPTIC? What does it mean for you?
The name doesn't actually mean anything at all. It was just something an old friend of our signer's chose. We couldn't come up with a name, and he suggested Psycroptic. We liked it, and that was that!
10. Do you know the German band PROFANITY? Even if you're not in the same style (These German bastards are more Brutal death like and more chaotic and old school sounding in a way) I feel like there's a common line in the fact the tracks of both bands are composed of many riffs, and the whole sounds very synchronized, with somekind of the same aggressiveness... What do you think of it?
Yeah, I've heard Profanity, and they are a cool band. I would agree that we're both fairly technical, but sound wise I would say we are much different. I would say that we are probably both inspired by the same types of music, and we have a similar outlook in regards to song writing.
11. When I listen to PSYCROPTIC, I could think a bit about bands like BROKEN HOPE, ANATA, old CANNIBAL CORPSE, LIVIDITY (a bit). What's your opinion about it?
Well, I don't think we sound like these bands, but we do like them. I would say our old material was similar to these bands, but I feel we're gaining more of our own sound with our newer songs. It’s often hard to know what people mean when they say we remind them of another band. For example the drums might remind them of something, and the vocals of something else. I mean someone once said we were a cross between Deeds of Flesh and Marduk (????). We just do what we do.
12. How do you see the evolution of your band's style from your beginnings to your last album?
I think it’s become a little more precise, and we've developed more of our own sound I think. It’s hard for me to answer this question, because we just develop the way that the music is written. We don't say "well, we need another black metal sounding riff here", or "we need to put more riffs there". We just write the songs how they come out.
13. One cool thing in your music is the vocals are also varied, there are some Death metal vocals, some gory growls, some Black metal screams, and some few vocals' patterns around the Thrash/ Heavy metal! Is variety an important element in your music?
Yeah, variety is an important element. We like to keep ourselves interested first and foremost, so having variety is a key for doing this. Plus its cool to challenge yourself when it comes to song writing. Vocally, Matthew does what he thinks will fit the song and the lyrics. So since the lyrics are so varied, why not make to the vocals as varied? It also helps us define our own sound as well.
14. What about the scene in Australia? I know the most obscure and old school metal bands like ENCABULOS, SADISTIK EXEKUTION, DARKLORD, and some Grindcore band like OPENWOUND(R.I.P), THE KILL, BLOOD DUSTER (old), FILTH... But what about the other extreme metal styles? Are there some bands you'd advice us to check out?
There are some really cool bands like Intense Hammer Rage (grind), Astriaal (black metal), Psychrist (death/black) Alarum (technical metal), Fuck.I'm dead (grind), and a lot more. The scene down here is quite varied and we have a lot of quality bands. People should check out the Aussie scene.
15. What kind of hormones your drummer eats to be so fast?
Haha, well, I'm the drummer. And I don't take anything. Its just practice I guess. I'm not as fast I would like to be, but I'm working on it!
16. Do the members of the band play in other projects? Or is PSYCROPTIC your only and main goal?
Yeah, most of us do other things, but Psycroptic is our main band. Psycroptic only jam 2 to 3 times a week, so there is other days in the week that can be filled with metal! Most Psycroptic members have got a few other little side projects going, that hopefully you'll hear more about in the future
17. Give me your views about the UG scene. How do you see it in 10 years ? How do you see yourself in 10 years (musically and personally) ?
This is a hard one. I think the quality of the underground scene is getting better and better, with some insane bands around. I would say that this quality will just keep getting better. Hopefully in 10 years the following will be bigger, and the quality of the bands better. I'm not sure where and what I'll be doing in 10 years. Hopefully I'll be a lot better musician, and still playing metal!
18. Here is the final question, let us know more about your future projects, and conclude the intie!
Well, we plan to play Europe in the near future, and hopefully the US as well. Before this though, we will probably release an EP. Maybe a concept style EP, but we're not sure yet. We've got a few plans, but we'll keep them secret for the moment.
WEBSITE: http://www.psycroptic.com
