THE PSYKE PROJECT

Hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark, mood-mongers THE PSYKE PROJECT have often been passed off as ISIS-worshipping, post-hardcorists who offer little that CULT OF LUNA or THE OCEAN haven't already given us. While that may be true to an extent, the band's latest effort, "Apnea", which is now seeing a proper worldwide release thanks to Lifeforce Records, has much more going on than re-hashed melancholy.

Before I go any further, THE PSYKE PROJECT does share some commonalities with the names I just dropped, such as thickly-layered guitars that create a massive wall of sound and the fact that listening to an album in one sitting is an exercise in dedication. Perhaps more so with "Apnea" as the shifts between depression and aggression are quite frequent and severe. "Creating Landscapes" swells from a rhythmically lackluster beginning into noise-fueled fury with a barrage of unconventional riffs that come across as too fuzzy to make sense of at times and harsh screams. The band pulls itself together to enter into a freeform jam, held tight by the syncopated pulse of the rhythm section, while the guitars cut away into mournful melody and semi-controlled feedback. And there you have a mild overview of THE PSYKE PROJECT's core sound, but still not the whole picture. "Dedication" is a bit more of a focused, angular hardcore effort, while "Panic" brings the speed of death metal and the shadow of doom into the mix. "I Get Paralyzed" and "Love Shown In A Handful Of Dirt" seem a bit more directed towards the screamo crowd, but still retain many of the band's heavier elements. The near ten-minute "Jugganata" is a lumbering drone/doom epic that I would almost expect to hear from a band on Southern Lord's roster until hints of TOOL make their way into the closing moments. The band absolutely shines on the surreal "Not In My Time", a track that uses the power of minimalism and melody to create a striking soundscape that ebbs and flows until culminating into a contained, yet climactic groove and stunning vocal aria. This is one of those songs that either hits you as outstandingly emotive or boring as hell, depending on your tastes.

THE PSYKE PROJECT is not a band that will be sending post-hardcore through any revolutionary upheavals anytime soon, but they do have their own distinct style. For better or worse, said style is far reaching and hits the ends of a few different spectrums and may come across as a bit too open-ended and nearly schizophrenic for the uninitiated. Those of you who are looking for an album that you really need to wrap your head around should come away from "Apnea" satisfied, or at the very least, dizzy.