(We present Didrik Mešiček‘s review of the newest album by Psychonaut 4, which was released on October 25th by Immortal Frost Productions.)
Georgia (or Sakartvelo as the Georgians call it) is the country you may know as the birthplace of Stalin or as the country that invented wine. You win some, you lose some, I suppose.
Personally, I’m not a fan of either but it is a country I’m definitely going to at some point, as it looks absolutely beautiful with its lovely mix of high Caucasus mountains and the shores of the Black sea. But because that makes Georgian life look too positive here’s another Georgian export – the depressive suicidal black metal band, Psychonaut 4, whose new album was released on the 25th of October.
With a title like …Of Mourning, you can be sure this isn’t a happy album (if the DSBM tag wasn’t enough of a clue) and the album does start with actual crying on the opener “Ghele.” Accompanied by an acoustic guitar, this is a good indicator for the album in total – lots of sadness and, perhaps surprisingly, soft music is the essence of this record.
“Mzeo Amodi” begins with a contrast to that, however, as it does offer a decent amount of black metal elements, namely the distorted guitars and desperate harsh vocals – which aren’t high-pitched as you might expect if you’re familiar with some of the band’s former work. Graf’s growls are joined by male clean vocals soon as well, and the collaboration between the two works very well, almost like a conversation between the depressive desperation and a charismatic, more hopeful side. The band do a really good job of making the song a cohesive unit, joining the heavier drumming with the most vocally desperate parts and thus creating an effect of emotional heaviness.
Psychonaut 4 show a lot of innovation with this album as “Fiqrebi Mtsukhrisa” goes even further from the cage of black metal, generally showing a softer side of the band, and a lot of interesting guitar work that drives the song forward in elaborate, yet well-developed ways. There’s a lot of rock and heavy metal influence on this song, yet a sound of melancholy prevails throughout, aided as well by the gentle female vocals at certain parts of the track. Harakiri for the Sky, another band shrouded in tragedy, has joined the Georgians on this track and their influence elevates it to one of the better tracks of the album.
Despite the album only having five actual songs (plus the short intro) and a fairly short run time of 41:29, there’s a lot to unpack here. The songs on …Of Mourning are notably distinct from one another, yet seem to tell a linear and a sensible story despite all of the lyrics being in Georgian and me not understanding any of it without looking up translations. While the band’s earlier work often shows depressive motifs in a rather on-the-nose fashion, they’ve seemingly developed a maturity and added complexity to their musical expressions throughout the years and that’s apparent on this album.
On “Vai Me” P4 have made an interesting decision to bury the growls under the cleans by layering the vocals for a large part of the song – it feels like a dichotomy of the mind, with the deeper part screaming with pain, but appearing composed and satisfied on the outside and therefore creating a musical allegory for depression.
The closing “Dzilis Tsameba” is the song that actually reminds me the most of the band’s earlier work, especially in the intro of the track, yet it still features none of those insanely high-pitched screams the band is known for. Funnily enough, it was those that initially turned me off from the band until I saw them live and absolutely loved them, so I’m quite happy with the band’s direction on this record.
All in all, this album was a bit of a surprise, mainly in how debatable it is whether this is even really black metal, yet I’ve at no point wanted it to be more aggressive or faster. Psychonaut 4’s evolution is apparent on …Of Mourning, and it’s an evolution that seems to have come around very naturally, both in the way they express their message and in their musical writing. Therefore, this is a very good album and, I think, a good indicator of where DSBM as a genre can go without losing its unique hopelessness, yet being quality music.
LINEUP:
Glixxx – guitars
Drifter – guitars, vocals
Graf – vocals
Nepho – drums
S.D. Ramirez – guitars, vocals
Alex Menadbe – bass
Giorgi Kodzakhia – guitars
https://lnk.to/ofmourning
https://immortalfrostproductions1.bandcamp.com/album/of-mourning
https://psychonaut4.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/psychonaut4.official/