.
Screw the mainstream
if you really want to get your rocks off you have to go to the underground.
That's just what we plan to do with this series, take some of the best
emerging bands that are out blowing away hardcore fans on the underground
music scene.
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Psychaesthetic - Infinities
End
By Mark Hensch
Psychaesthetic
- Infinities End
Rating:  
Philadelphia's Psychaesthetic (which will
henceforth be referred to by the highly creative "PA") is a very different
band for me to review here at antiMUSIC. While most of my reviews have
featured artists in the hardcore/metal genres, with a few art-rockers here
and there, I have not yet reviewed an industrial act. The band caught my
interest when it was posted up for review, as I am just starting to be
more then slightly intrigued by the electronica genre, and beyond that,
the band's synth player is none other then antiMUSIC's very own Brad Podray.
Formed fairly recently in Philadelphia,
Brad joined with guitarist Tom Notari and vocalist Kyle McGee to spawn
the electronic act. After two years of feeling the waters, the band released
Infinites End after getting to know each other's playing styles and ideas
for what the band should sound like.
The CD kicks off with the bouncy "Hedon."
It swirls in with some awesome layered effects, and McGee's vocals reminded
me why I found electronica bands so interesting in the first place recently.
"Talion" jots in with some echoing percussions and then some nice industrial
beats and a driving, distorted riff or two. Some weird effect sound almost
orchestrated like violins as the vocals twist in and out with that classic
Industrial anguish. Later on Notari closes with some riffs that cascade
all over the place and the song ends without warning, leaving you craving
more.
"A Polemic" is a more conventionally based
song. It features less on the electronica end of the spectrum and more
on the rock end of things. The song goes from brooding guitars to driving
rhythms with a subtle industrial undertone. This song rules.
"Minefield" has one of those sputtering
vocal effects and stop-start riffs that are every bit as sudden as the
song's title might suggest; the electronics are so well-layered this track
that the on-off guitar are like stepping on mines that explode without
any hint that they're there. This song reminds me of what little KMFDM
I've had the luck to hear.
"Aura" has crystaline beats and swirls
that sound like a more introverted (if possible) Postal Service. The guitar
next slithers in with a slow crescendo of old-school metal schooling. One
of the best instrumentals I have yet heard in this genre.
"The Rains" is factory made industrial
that just plain rules. "Rising" has McGee doing some sinister whisperings
as his fellow bandmates swirl their synth and guitars into a cohesive mix
of jingling electronica.
"Sensory Tide" has a conventional guitar
intro that soon is overtaken into a duel with some excellent percussion.
"Navsea" manages to sound watery yet icy at the same time, as beats and
rhythms maelstrom around one another before solidifying into another awesome
backbeat for those great vocals.
"Viral Sunrise" is an electronica heavy
song that is pretty spooky in that good old Orgy kind of way perhaps. "The
Binary Age" closes things with some more bouncy, robotic, and damn smooth
electronica/industrial.
This CD was a strange one for me. As I
said earlier, my recent flirtation with industrial is fairly small and
brief....however, Psychaesthetic should be listenable to all kinds of music
fans. Those robotic and monotone beats are littered with random riffs and
effects that should make both fans of the genre and noobs like myself happy.
The lyrics are awesome, and like many acts I have heard in this style,
take on an almost mechanical overtone ("The Future is a number stored in
my mind").
All in all, I would for sure recommend
it to people looking for something catchy yet, in typical fashion of this
website, ANTI. It is every bit as fun to rave to or DDR to, as typical
industrial stereotypes might suggest, but there is much more then a dancefloor
beat on this CD. I already am excited about another one.
Listen
to Samples
Purchase
This CD online
Visit
the official website
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