Psilocybe Larvae - Non-Existence
Psilocybe Larvae are a Russian melodic death metal band that debuted in 1996 and since have developed a cult following. With well produced albums, interesting lyrics and a sound that is balanced between heavy and scary, they've come out with some interesting stuff. Now on their third album, they lean more towards the technical side of things to try and keep each album from album more varied than the last. On this album in particular Psilocybe try to merge technical guitar solo moments with haunting keyboards, such as with "Castaway," which features an excellent sole keyboard solo before the band rips into a solo that just shreds everything up with the drums behind it. "Let The Flame..." is a bit more like their other tracks with the lengthy guitar chords and closing keyboard moment that sounds more hell-carnival bred than just the typical background keyboard sounds that most melodic death metal bands use.
The title track has some excellent technical drumming along with the clean vocals taking a different turn from their usual moanings to a low, almost whispered tone, which is an exact contrast to right before they start roaring again. This time they don't even seem human, they just sound like an animal which is pretty impressive for the band if they're trying to show their aggressive side with a touch of funeral doom. "Great Silence" is unfortunately the weakest track on the album because it is more along the lines of generic melodic death metal with doom metal influences such as My Dying Bride. "Threshold" has a very epic ambient moment where the drums are spotlessly clear and really have some rhythm to them whereas "Condemnation" makes better use of the solos in melodic death metal style while at the same time using a more acoustic sound than the other tracks at parts.
This is certainly the band's strongest work, if not the most modern and different from their others. New fans should certainly choose this amongst all in their discography while old fans will appreciate the merge of old and new sounds together while still adhering to melodic death metal categories while not falling into generic clone copies of bands like Dark Tranquility or At The Gates. The doomier parts are certainly welcome and will hopefully stay in the band's aresenal on future work.
The title track has some excellent technical drumming along with the clean vocals taking a different turn from their usual moanings to a low, almost whispered tone, which is an exact contrast to right before they start roaring again. This time they don't even seem human, they just sound like an animal which is pretty impressive for the band if they're trying to show their aggressive side with a touch of funeral doom. "Great Silence" is unfortunately the weakest track on the album because it is more along the lines of generic melodic death metal with doom metal influences such as My Dying Bride. "Threshold" has a very epic ambient moment where the drums are spotlessly clear and really have some rhythm to them whereas "Condemnation" makes better use of the solos in melodic death metal style while at the same time using a more acoustic sound than the other tracks at parts.
This is certainly the band's strongest work, if not the most modern and different from their others. New fans should certainly choose this amongst all in their discography while old fans will appreciate the merge of old and new sounds together while still adhering to melodic death metal categories while not falling into generic clone copies of bands like Dark Tranquility or At The Gates. The doomier parts are certainly welcome and will hopefully stay in the band's aresenal on future work.
- Castaway
- Sleepwalkers
- Let The Flame...
- Cold Desert Of Eternity
- Non-Existent World
- Great Silence
- Asylum
- Threshold
- Condemnation
Mazzar Records
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Jan 19, 2011
Jan 19, 2011
Next review:
Moonreich - Loi Martiale
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