This was a case of an album when a switch automatically opened in my head. I realised that after wrongly thinking everything sounded the same, in fact it was a case of appreciating this band’s personal mix of styles. Rumbustuous rhythms and aggressive hardcore vocals guarantee a refreshing level of energy on this second album by Italian band Bioscrape.
The opening track “Primordial Judge” is slightly misleading of what’s to come as it contains elements of quirkiness and insanity. I think Bioscrape could have developed these particular qualities even more than they do without detracting from their instrumentally measured and in-your-face songs. It’s a potent mix. Those sound-enhanced hardcore vocals are set to a classic sounding metal groove pattern, which when listened to closely has many twists, turns and subtleties. The songs are bouncy, and there are plenty of headbanging opportunities. I’d speculate that Bioscrape are a very good live band.
After the striking and innovative “Primordial Judge”, “Mechanical Providence” takes us forward in its engaging and, well, mechanical way. Mechanical it may be, but it’s got energy, drive and delightful little electronic and guitars turns. The rebounding riff of “Aliena” reminded me in sound of the Scary Bitches, the British goth vampire band, and once again it helps to drive forward another lively metal song. Strangely, the other band I thought of when listening to this album, was Ephel Duath, and Bioscrape don’t sound like them either, except perhaps in the hardcore vocal tones. This is groove metal with controlled hardcore injections, as “Bioscrape” goes on to demonstrate. It’s never over the top, but it’s exuberant, the vocalist sounds he’s shouting through a megaphone, and the transformations and patterns are fluid and transfixing. And there are proper endings. Suddenly we’re plunged into a 70s style psychedelic-progressive rhythm, supported by a dingy vocal and uncompromised bass guitar. “Cyber Hope” would have to end with the suggestion of space messages and this is a common theme over the album, but then the pace picks up again as “Astro Noise” swiftly takes us forward. Once again the song structure is magical, with a clever combination of darkness and the irrepressibly bouncy rhythm. The guitarist does play a familiar rhythm, which seems to feature on every track, but it doesn’t matter as each of the songs has personality and flow. By the last two tracks, “Vega Cospiration” and the title track, the flow is familiar and I can see how I got to think that everything sounded the same, but the skill lies in the mobility and the life of these songs.
As a musical work, “Psychologram” is interesting and has a number of cleverly interwined styles and genres to make up this collection of finely structured songs. On top of this, I also found it great fun and very entertaining. This is an album I look forward to listening to and enjoying again.
(8/10 Andrew Doherty)
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