The pro's and con's are broken down this way. On the upside, it's 6 songs of strong metal meets punk infused music. The music is super charged and crunchy made possible by focused musicians.
The guitar duo of Adrian Mann and Ryan Reilly really shine with power chords that will crush your skull. Mann and Reilly really keep you on the edge with their speed and versatility as musicians. They MAKE this record really worth checking out!
The rhythm section of bassist Brian O'Callaghan and (former) drummer Kurt Heist keep it knuckled down with the right amount of bottom end on tracks like "Trickster, Part 1" and "Invocation". Every great guitar duo needs a talented rhythm section to glue it together. And O'Callaghan and Heist do that well.
Singer William "Doctor" Paimon has a melodic throaty vocal style reminiscent of Glenn Danzig. Deep, menacing and dark is how I would sum up Paimon. I think with some time this guy could be a really good singer.
My only real issue with this release is the production value. I feel Paimon's vocal are TOO raw here. Maybe with some tweeking this could be a vocally superb (to match the musicianship) album.
It's raw and very much a DIY album, which isn't a BAD thing necessarily. Lots of bands have taken the raw power DIY approach and made good on it. Think Misfits, Black Flag and Dead Kennedy's for example. But I feel that with a good mixing, with the proper producer that could bring out the very best in Paimon's vocal ability, this band could be unstoppable.
You don't need 20 years of classical vocal training in order to be a great singer. And I think Paimon is on the right track to becoming a damn good one. With some time I feel Sutured Psyche could really be a driving force in the Chicago music scene. The music's good, don't get me wrong. It just needs a little more studio work in order to make take it to the next level.
All in all, good first album. I'm looking forward to seeing this band evolve with time. They HAVE the talent. They just need a little more studio assistance.
Track listing:
1 - Invocation
2 - Steven
3 - Trickster, Part 1
4 - The Leap
5 - Clarity
6 - Anything
3 ½ stars out of 5
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