Thursday, July 31, 2025

Psychosomatic - Another Disease (2010)

 
Cost: $2.00

Chuggy thrash, sometimes with just a punky crossover edge, and other times going full-on crossover. The thrashier material on here has a more modern feel which, while not my favorite, doesn't offend me either. In these thrashier parts, the riffing can sound vaguely Slayerish to varying degrees depending on the tempo. Don't mean to imply the production is overly polished and sterile the way a lot of modern non-underground metal is, but there's something about the recording cleanliness that doesn't sit right with me. It's probably beneficial for the clarity of the guitars on the thrashier stuff, but it makes the crossover parts seem overly sanitized. I should also add there were some points where I found the drums to be really distracting. The ride cymbal seems to be really high in the mix most of the time. The vocals are definitely in a more crossover style, and at their most spastic sound a lot like Blaine from The Accused.

A few times, like in "Gang of Grenades" and "Sociopathic Child," the speed and ferocity of the crossover parts will briefly into grind territory. "Built for Speed" and "Gang of Grenades" both use a bit of guttural vocals. As a fan of more extreme metal, I liked all these touches but sadly, they're extremely underutilized. 

In general, the crossover songs come off better due to their energy and just meshing better with the vocal style. The punkiest song on here, "The Knife," is dripping with Accused influences. "C-Wing Blues" is a crossover thrasher that stands out due to the gang vocal choruses, which totally reminded me of Municipal Waste's "You're Cut Off."

There's definitely $2 worth of decent material on here, but unfortunately it's too inconsistent for me to classify this as a really great find. For the style, it also feels rather bloated--18 real tracks clocking in at 45 minutes. Leaner and meaner would have probably made for a more enjoyable listen.

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