The Psalm - I

THE PSALM - I (Hell's Fire Records 7"EP 2015)

I must say that I was equally surprised as saddened when heard the news on Nocturnal Vomit split up. I know this band for more than decade I guess, I actually even did interview with Isaak back in 2005, for the fifth issue of Panzerfaust zine and liked his inspiring attitude towards music and underground scene and values. Maybe their music back then wasn’t something spectacular, but solid for sure. Later the album “Cursed Relics” happened and fuck, you may check my review on this blog, I fuckin loved this album!!!! This was, for me personally, one of the best albums of 2012. It’s a shame that maybe it didn’t grab as much attention as it should, but well, those who have it, I am sure that they worship this music. And then Nocturnal Vomit split up and from their ashes The Psalm arose, with three ex-Nocturnal Vomit members, all except Issak actually. Well, I am not sure what were the reasons, I am sure thought that I will want to send some questions to Kolozis later, so I hope to find out in interview about that. In the meantime here’s The Psalm’s debut EP “I”, released on killer 7”EP vinyl through Hell's Fire Records in 350 copies. I did not hesitate to grab a copy and damn, I am happy I did so.

Killer music, killer band – this is what I can say about The Psalm. “Cursed Relics” album was quite different to the old Nocturnal Vomit stuff; more in the vein of classic death metal, it reminded me Asphyx a lot, especially the vocals. Thomas Vomit also sings in The Psalm, so again his excellent voice may remind you Martin van Drunen a lot. And that’s not something what can bring shame to this band, why would it? Besides, not all vocals are sang in this manner and more so, I just like this kind of harsh vocals a lot. Finally, these vocals are the only thing, which can remind you Asphyx this time, as musically The Psalm is quite different and actually I dare to say that stylistically it’s quite original death metal, with not so obvious comparisons that I could make.

First of all, this music has a very dark, mystical, obscure aura, which is almost ritualistic to some point. And some of these riffs, these harmonies are even close to some black metal stuff. The music is rather slow paced, but do not avoid some great blasts here and there. And generally it is just heavy, aggressive, but also as said before, it’s eerie and malevolent. If you want to compare it to Pentacle, Abyssal, Adversarial, Morbid Angel, Dead Congregation, do so, but I still think that in the end The Psalm has a lot of originality and their own personality to offer, what is not so common these days. The songwriting is just excellent, a lot of great riffs, some melodies, fantastic guitar leads, diverse and interesting stuff from start to finish, great production… “Ascetic” is my favourite of the two songs, it’s just great, with quite a blackish feeling, as it starts with super fast riff, then they’re more like a good old Morbid Angel, to finish with dark, quite hypnotizing aura. Oh, it’s super cool. And of course “A Mass for the Bereaved” also has no weak parts, damn. I cannot even describe how much I am enjoying these two songs! Fantastic debut then and now I can’t wait for some more music from The Psalm!

Final rate: 85/100