Australia’s PSYCROPTIC are today premiering their highly anticipated eighth studio album, Divine Council, via Metal Injection. The long running extreme metal band’s latest full length sees PSYCROPTIC collaborating with dual vocals from long standing vocalist Jason Peppiatt, Origin’s Jason Keyser and additional contributions from Amy Willes.
LISTEN TO THE DIVINE COUNCIL PREMIERE VIA METAL INJECTION HERE.
Divine Council will be available on all streaming platforms on Friday (August 5).
Pre-order Divine Council here.
Speaking on the premiere, Todd Stern (bass): “Divine Council is an extremely proud moment for Psycroptic. I believe that it accurately represents the intensity and maturation of the band. We always seem to evolve in a healthy way, and this record is a testament to that evolution. There is an art to picking up where you left off, maintaining the specific flavour that has built up such a strong, loyal, & long-lasting rapport with the fans; yet still managing to successfully level up the quality of songwriting while also taking risks. The making of this record has been deeply fulfilling for us. We hope you enjoy jamming on it as much as we enjoyed creating it in the first place. LET IT RIP.”
Brothers Dave Haley (drums) and Joe Haley (guitar) have steered PSYCROPTIC through different shades of death metal, from the technical to the experimental, with longtime vocalist and lyricist Jason Peppiatt and bassist Todd Stern further embellishing the sound of the band to create something that is distinctively PSYCROPTIC.
Origin vocalist Jason Keyser has long been considered a part of PSYCROPTIC’s extended family, and on Divine Council he contributes vocals to the album tracks. As Peppiatt wrote the lyrics and vocal patterns, the group were able to utilise an extended palette of styles to further enhance his sound, courtesy of Keyser and additional vocals from Amy Wiles, hitting upon a collective approach to complement the Haleys.
With writing and recording punctuated by a pandemic and subsequent strict lockdowns, Divine Council was recorded in various locations across Australia and North America. Drums were tracked at Anubis Studios by Chris Thelemco, bass was captured by Justin Spaeth at Cave Bound Studio, and guitars, vocals and synths were recorded by the band’s own Joe Haley at his Crawlspace Studios before he mixed and mastered the albums nine tracks.
The suffocating atmosphere carries through to the lyrics that detail the myriad ways that human beings waste, destroy or devalue what’s in front of them – captured in the evocative album artwork, courtesy of the prolific Eliran Kantor. With narrative threads that throw back to tracks on both their self-titled album and As The Kingdom Drowns, PSYCROPTIC have found yet more new ways to explore human’s inherent inability to see the bigger picture – or change track before a miserable demise becomes a crushing inevitability.
Divine Council is an album that oozes confidence, maturity and a relaxed self assurance befitting of a band with a rich legacy behind them and an unconstrained future ahead of them.
Upcoming PSYCROPTIC live dates:
August 5 – Divine Council Album Launch at Max Watts – Melbourne, Australia*
*w/ Denouncement Pyre, Werewolves and Golgothan Remains
The Divine Ascension US and Canada co-headline tour with Fallujah
Support from Interloper and Cognitive
September 11 – Whisky-A-Go-Go – Hollywood, CA
September 12 – Nile Underground – Mesa, AZ
September 13 – Rockhouse Bar & Grill – El Paso, TX
September 14 – Marquis Theater – Denver, CO
September 15 – The Bottleneck – Lawrence, KS
September 16 – Come and Take it Live – Austin, TX
September 17 – Amplified Live – Dallas, TX
September 18 – Acadia – Houston, TX
September 20 – The Haven – Orlando, FL
September 21 – The Masquerade (Purgatory) – Atlanta, GA
September 22 – Ground Zero – Spartanburg, SC
September 23 – Metro Gallery – Baltimore, MD
September 24 – The Meadows – Brooklyn, NY
September 25 – Dingbatz – Clifton, NJ
September 26 – Alchemy – Providence, RI
September 27 – Source de la Martinière – Québec City, QC
September 28 – Foufounes Electriques – Montreal, QC
September 29 – Brass Monkey – Ottawa, ON
September 30 – Empire Underground – Albany, NY
October 1 – Preserving Underground – Pittsburgh, PA
October 2 – Cleveland Masonic (Asylum) – Cleveland, OH
October 3 – Reggies – Chicago, IL
October 4 – The Cabooze – Minneapolis, MN
October 5 – Park Theater – Winnipeg, MB
October 6 – The Exchange – Regina, SK
October 7 – Dickens – Calgary, AB
October 8 – Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB
October 10 – Rickshaw Theater – Vancouver, BC
October 11 – El Corazon – Seattle, WA
October 12 – Bossanova Ballroom – Portland, OR
October 13 – The Catalyst – Santa Cruz, CA
October 14 – Full Circle Brewery District – Fresno, CA
October 15 – Stages – Santa Ana, CA
Divine Council tracklist:
1. Rend Asunder
2. A Fool’s Errand
3. This Shadowed World
4. Enslavement
5. Ashes of Our Empire
6. The Prophet’s Council
7. Awakening
8. A Fragile Existence
9. Exitus
PSYCROPTIC is:
Jason Peppiatt -Vocals
Jason Keyser -Vocals (Recording only)
Joe Haley -Guitar
Todd Stern -Bass
Dave Haley -Drums
https://www.facebook.com/psycroptic