Psychotic Waltz ‘The God-Shaped Void’
Album Review By Adam McCann
InsideOut Music/Progressive Metal
Progressive metal is a genre dominated by names like Dream Theater with most passing fans choosing not to explore the genre beyond this. Yet, beneath the obvious, there is a plethora of bands, Fates Warning, Watchtower and Evergrey to name a few who are equally as good, if not better than the genre’s mascot. One such band that fall into this category are Psychotic Waltz; the American band delivered some of the genres best work in the 90’s and in 2010, it was announced that the band was returning. However, it has taken the band the best part of a decade to get into the studio and deliver their fifth studio album ‘The God-Shaped Void’.
Now, has the 24 years since the bands last studio album been worth the wait? The answer is this; most definitely. ‘The God…’ is a fantastic album and as expected it keeps the mantra that Psychotic Waltz release superb albums going. However, what cannot be stressed enough is actually just how good this album actually is – even by Psychotic Waltz standards, ‘The God…’ is pretty damned high. This is an album which is full of excellent melodies that weave their way in and out of some of the best riffs that the listener will hear all year creating an album of exceptionally memorable songs; from the beautiful ‘The Fallen’, through the sci-fi thriller of ‘Stranded’ to the phenomenal ‘Demystified’. The latter is a track which takes a large step away from standard prog metal and into the realms of progressive rock, acoustic guitars and flutes flutter against a vocal delivery that would hugely appeal to fans of Greg Lake with the ‘Demystified’ arriving like King Crimson on crack.
‘The God…’ is a superb album and is one of the best albums available this year thus far. Do not be surprised if this album goes head to head with Sons of Apollo’s ‘MMXX’ for the best progressive metal album of the year.
Rating : 92/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
