Perth, Western Australia metal act PSYCHONAUT deliver their sophomore effort in the form of the thrashing as all hell studio effort Shock Them Dead!. This reviewer feels it is definitely one of the more solid productions you will hear. PSYCHONAUT cites many influences including KISS, W.A.S.P., JUDAS PRIEST plus LOUDNESS, and certainly that is all in the mix here for sure – killer lyrics and vocals that you normally only dream about – but for me really this record sounds like PANTERA met TYPE O NEGATIVE in some dark alleyway for a gruesome knife fight. It is vicious, over the top and just pure rock n roll mayhem. These cats are not playing around.
Shock ‘Em Dead! was produced by the band, while recorded and engineered by Simon “Chaos Divine” Mitchell, PSYCHONAUT takes the listener on a ‘goddamn electric’ ride with fourteen tracks that are unrelenting and straight up will pummel your head from start to finish. Guitarist/vocalist Mark De Vattimo is one of the brighter talents to emerge from the land down under in recent memory. He’s got a voice like a banshee to go along with his battle ready guitar riffs that are matched in intensity by second guitarist Mike Kaval, and overall the sound here is absolutely crushing. De Vattimo’s voice is part Tom Araya and part Lemmy Kilmister. The rhythm section of Simon Hallett on bass and Brody Simpson on drums is as tight as it gets.
My favorite songs are the blazing “Rosemary’s Baby”, the annihilating “Knights In Satan’s Service”, along with the perfectly raging “Lemmy Von Frankenstein” and the epic “Thrash Metal Zombies”. Any fan of extreme metal will simply love this album, because these guys effortlessly blend elements of thrash, death and classic metal with a modern feel and I think this is a band that is going to have a very big future.
ROCKET REVIEW:
[starreview tpl=16]
PSYCHONAUT – “Shock ‘Em Dead!” (CD)
(Firestarter, 2012)
1. Darklord Rise!
2. Rosemary’s Baby
3. Humungus
4. Knights In Satan’s Service
5. False Metal
6. Oblong Box
7. Lemmy Von Frankenstein
8. Pound of Flesh
9. Botched Alien Probe
10. Il Pianeta Della Schimmie
11. Wolfman
12. WTCHD
13. Thrash Metal Zombies
14. Tooth of Dracula
http://www.reverbnation.com/psychonautaustralia
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