Psylence - 'Through Distorted Eyes'
"Through Distorted Eyes", the debut full-length from homegrown act Psylence, is an expanded and partially re-recorded reissue of the band's 2004 EP, "Schematic". Originally produced by Mark Mynett (Kill2This), the vocals have been redone and four new tracks have been added in order to extend the CD's runtime to 39 minutes.
Essentially a metalcore release, "Through Distorted Eyes" mixes down-tuned, palm-muted riffs with mid-paced drum tempos and vocals which alternate between gruff shouting and more melodic 'clean' phrases. The production is a little rougher and less polished-sounding than most CDs of its ilk, which can only be a good thing in this age of digitally polished sterility. The instrumentalists are all competent if unspectacular players and serve the demands of the songs well. Unusually, the vocalist is better at the actual singing parts than he is at the more 'extreme' passages, with his shouting in particular being a sadly unconvincing monotone. There are some decent vocal hooks in evidence, and the band have a bit more imagination than to save the melodic singing for the choruses alone. The group also has a resident 'decks/samples/keys' bloke in its ranks, but he contributes little more than some incongruous (and often barely audible) scratching and an occasional bit of bleeping, none of which really adds much to the songs themselves. Lyrically, the album is fairly typical angry young man fare but it manages never to cross the line into empty complaining and self-pity.
Opener 'Pay On Demand' shows that Psylence have some kick-arse riffs in them, but unfortunately it soon becomes apparent that they have a few too many average ones as well. Consequently, the CD struggles to maintain the listener's attention for its full duration, a battle not aided by the fact that each of the songs settles into a fairly relentless mid-paced chug, which becomes quite wearying after a while. The tracks do tend to blur, with little to distinguish them from one another (although it has to be said that 'Deep Within' stands out due to the degree it blatantly rips off Fear Factory's 'Shock').
"Through Distorted Eyes" is in essence a bread-and-potatoes modern metal album. There's nothing surprising or contentious here and the songwriting lacks bite, but it's competent enough of its kind and warrants purchase if you're really into this type of thing - although they should perhaps lose the redundant 'decks/samples/keys' guy and use his share of the band's takings to hire a more accomplished vocalist.