Review: Psychonaut ‘World Maker’
Life comes at you thick and fast these days. I’ve frequently talked about the volume of music that is made available daily on platforms like Spotify, with something like 100,000 new tracks being added, meaning that to listen to it all would take up to 416 hours per day. Which creates a slight mathematical issue…
In the face of this, making the time to review an album as complex, as rich, and as long as the latest album from Belgian psychedelic/progressive/post-metal collective Psychonaut, almost becomes an anathema to modern trends.
World Maker, a record that is deeply entrenched with personal highs and lows and features some of the band’s most far-reaching and challenging compositions, is not one to add to a shuffle, not tailor made to pick the highlights out of to stick in a playlist or blithely skip through on your way to the next event. With this record, Psychonaut ask you to invest in a singular piece of art, to let it sink in and to surrender to the emotional rollercoaster that the compositions take you on.
Those who are no strangers to the band will not be surprised by this. Their 2018 debut, Unfold The God Man, and follow-up, Violate Consensus Reality, in 2022, both had punishing run times. Comparisons were drawn to enigmatic titans Tool and future label mates The Ocean for their longform, dynamic, and atmospheric blend of heavy riffing and textured song structures.
Whereas Violate Consensus Reality had a grandiose, all-encompassing vision, World Maker finds the roots of inspiration in the triumph and tragedy of the ordinary lives of the band. Shortly after the release of the last album came the news that guitarist/vocalist Stephan De Graef was to become a father, bringing with it the joy, fears and reassessment of life that naturally occurs in these situations. Sadly, however, shortly after this happy event came, the devastating news that both his own father and Psychonaut bassist/vocalist Thomas Michiels’ father had been diagnosed with advanced cancer, forcing the band’s focus to internalise.
Against this backdrop, the band would aspire to make their most complete and ambitious album to date. The serious philosophical musings of the past are applied to the thoughts of life and death. They’re soundtracked by the drawn-out peaks and valleys of dense arrangements that flow through passages of crushing heaviness and stillness as light as a breath. If you are on board with the band or even the genre, then World Maker will be manna from heaven. If you are not prepared to surrender yourself and put the time in, then Psychonaut are not for you, but you may just be missing out.
Starting slowly with the title track, they take their time to build the blocks of the album. The bright arpeggios, the piano and the swirling effects are delicate and far away as the driving drums beat underneath like a heartbeat, building anticipation. When De Graef sings, it is low and gentle, full of dancing harmonies that grow in power as the track morphs into a triumphant swell.
they have restrained some of their previously heavy, direct tendencies for a more cerebral approach…
This is one of the strengths the band have always excelled at. A surprisingly mature and accomplished outfit right from their debut, World Maker doesn’t hurry to deliver the hammer blows they’re capable of. The pensive, patience‑demanding builds that shape the album make this a less bullish prospect than their previous releases. Here, they have restrained some of their previously heavy, direct tendencies for a more cerebral approach.
That is not to say that World Maker doesn’t hit like a ton of bricks when needed. Endless Currents is a particular high with the busy stick work and grinding bass as they manipulate the polyrhythms, pulling back into melodic musings, until they explode with guttural screams and punishing drops. This dynamic is replicated again on And You Came With Searing Light, whereas Stargazer is a more naked sludge metal attack. Broken up by teasing sequences where they use operatic flourishes to twist enchanting melodies into vociferous bellows of intent.
The impact of these peaks and troughs are drawn out through the tender moments like All Was Quiet’s whimsical aside, or the gothic flavoured You Are The Sky… which combines a kitchen sink’s worth of time/tempo and stylistic changes that simultaneously grooves, rages and soothes. Almost every one of the ten tracks (plus the futuristic disco remix of Origins) runs in long form and embraces a range of musical detours, like the psychedelic, jazz‑like asides of Everything Else Is Just the Weather. These moments can easily get lost in a passive listen, but on repeated plays they yield a wholly immersive experience.
The vision and scope of Word Maker is truly breathtaking. The debt to the likes of Tool in terms of the guitar techniques, the related motifs that are called back to, plus the intrinsically personal nature of the subject matter, adds a layer to the music that generally sidesteps criticism. Last year I reviewed Hippotraktor (who De Graef also sings for), and it comes as little surprise that their guitarist and producer, Chiaran Verheyden, had a hand in making the album sound the way it does and shares some similarities.
Critics will point to the meticulous construct and feel that the studied arrangements lend an air of clinical detachment to the genre, which belies its emotional impact. On initial listens, it was easy to overlook just how heartfelt the lyrics are, but like the music, the more you allow the experience to sink in, the more benefits you will take from it.
A ‘psychonaut’ is an individual who explores their mind and consciousness through altered states, meditation, or other techniques. In this case, the music is that path to higher consciousness. Whether you are of the mindset to indulge such an undertaking will determine your reception to this incredible piece of work.
Label: Pelagic Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Mark Hunt-Bryden
