Rating: 9.6

Country: Finland

Release Date: 1996

Record Label: Repulse

Track list:
1. Heroes In Godly Blaze
2. Psychostasia
3. Seance Of Shamans
4. The Book Of The Worm
5. Thoth (Lord Of The Holy Words)
6. Mythic Descendant
7. As The Gods Succumbed
8. Across The Gray Waters

Band Website: Adramelech

Adramelech - Psychostasia

Jarkko Rantanen - Drums, Vocals
Jani Aho - Guitar
Mikko Aarnio - Bass
Seppo Taatila - Guitar

A study in contrasts.

It seems almost inevitable - the further one delves into the depths of the extreme metal underground, the more one begins to realize that the nation of Finland, in addition to being one of the world's top producers of suicides and umlauts, is one of the greatest sources of quality cult death metal. Amorphis' early work, particularly The Karelian Isthmus has been a staple in the collections of metal fans for years, while the likes of Demilich, Demigod and Cartilage have gained much notoriety through online file sharing and word-of-mouth since the advent of the internet. But Adramelech's 1996 debut full-length Psychostasia may in fact be the pinnacle of achievement for the Finnish death metal scene.

Released in a time when death metal as a whole was in the midst of a major artistic drought, with few landmark albums being put out, Psychostasia represents a middle ground between old school and new school death metal, as well as one between the bizarre atonal exploration of Demilich's Nespithe and the more straightforward death metal of Demigod's Slumber of Sullen Eyes. In other words, this album strikes a rare balance between technicality and atmosphere; between brutality and hookiness.

Adramelech accomplishes this by taking a page from the playbook of more recent Immolation releases [anachronistic, I know, but bear with me here] and establishing grooves with their fretboard acrobatics through repetition and using a broad tonal range [often within individual riffs] and a variety of riffing styles to avoid the ham-fisted feel that plagues a lot of technical death metal. In short, there are memorable riffs throughout this record, which are simultaneously catchy and challenging. And while Adramelech does not have the same propensity for layered counter-melodies that is the hallmark of bands like Anata, !T.O.O.H! and the aforementioned Immolation, they do exhibit an acute understanding of what constitutes potent death metal riffing in this day and age.

And it's not just about individual riffs. The songs on Psychostasia are remarkably fluid in their arrangement. At no point does it seem like Adramelech wrote the songs on this album by simply slapping parts together without paying any mind to the fundamentals of good songwriting. These songs are all seamless and never jagged, despite their complexity. The title track is a perfect example, including elements of classic pummeling death metal, Demilich-style atonal melody and more traditional heavy metal melody within the span of a four-minute composition, and at no point does it seem like these various elements have been thrown together haphazardly. Even neophyte death metal listeners will not feel daunted by this band's use of passages with an odd number of beats in a measure [you'll frequently hear riffs written in 5/4, 7/8, 15/8] or non-power chord intervals [though those are used sparingly]. Psychostasia is an album that is just as impressive in its catchiness as in its technicality - a rare find.

Make sure to purchase this album in its reissued form, since this version contains the EPs Seven and The Fall as bonus tracks, the former of which includes three of the band's best tracks.

Favorite track: "The Book of the Worm"

May 15th, 2007