Customer Reviews

Ideas of Reference

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was gonna wait around, try and really pick apart this album and analyze, but screw it. There's no need. Simply put, this is the craziest metal album I've ever heard. Imagine The End (the 'Transfer Trachea...' ep) mixed with Necrophagist with the jazz influence cranked way up. And though I've only listened to it maybe 7 times so far, I may be prepared to declare 'Ideas of Reference' to be the finest, most compelling sheer madness album out there, dethroning the now legendary 'Calculating Infinity' album.

Now keep in mind, I've never been the sorta person to insist that music needs to be very technical to be good. True, the best album's combine strong songwriting with high technical ability, but if you can only have one you take the songwriting in a heartbeat. This album has nothing to recommend it in terms of conventional songwriting, but Psyopus have taken incessant wanking to a new level, transcending self-indulgence and moving into realms of pure madness and genius. I don't know if any of the tracks really add up to a terribly cohesive whole, but the individual parts are staggering enough that it doesn't much matter. Though they're all amazing, the guitarist, Chris Arp is who really matters. He virtually never plays straight, chugging riffs, but rather winding, circular and ridiculously fast metal-jazz runs and licks, combined with harsh, staggering walls of noise. He is literally astounding to listen to. What's more, Psyopus has a sorta distinct flavor amongst the numerous tech-metal bands out there, with the sharp, clear guitar tone and the prevalent use of blast-beats. The vocalist, your standard 'core shouter, is nothing special, and the vocal lines are virtually never of interest, but they don't really need to be. And though they may only have a few very specifics sounds, they use them all well, moving constantly but surprisingly smoothly from one of movement to the next.

Amazing stuff. Maybe I'll eventually become somewhat less excited about it, due to the lack of conventional songwriting, but it's pretty damn impressive now.

how to describe the experience of _Ideas of Reference_? It sounds like the high-precision brutality of Dillinger Escape Plan with the grinding complexity of King Crimson MkV, the fusionesque proficiency of Mahavishnu Orchestra, and spazzed-out instrumental passages from the darkest, freakiest fantasies of Dream Theater (stuff they would never go on to perform themselves). Erratic speeds, unrelenting assaults, frenetic percussiveness, and mangled, atonal guitar riffs make it sound like the disgusting, mutant cousin of avant-jazz and extreme metal on a major amphetamine binge! All that, combined with a unique use of texture and attentive use of additive rhythms, overlapping time relations, and meter changes. This is a group dripping ingenuity and pragmatism, and power enough to kill an elephant. highly recommended.

this album is ridiculous. i think this band might contain the most talented guys to hit music ever...period. THAT'S how good this record is. their drummer is AMAZING, and their guitar player is mind-blowingly good. if you like grind, BUY THIS NOW. if you like metal, BUY THIS NOW. if you like math rock, BUY THIS NOW. if you like ridiculously talented musicians, BUY THIS NOW. you won't be disappointed.

Damn, never in my life have I heard such proffesional musicianship, these guys are the best band who ever lived, I mean gosh, I happened to hear this band when I was using XM Online Radio (in case you didnt' know, XM Radio is a Satellite Radio) and I heard the song Mirrorim. I have never been so amazed, and I thought to myself "I need to look these guys up" and so I did some searches on google and found out more information about them. Then I tried going to Best Buy to buy their album, but I couldn't find it anywhere. So I just came home and downloaded their songs instead, and that's what I did. Wow....their songs are simply amazing, you can't even begin to imagine how complex, complicated, fast, extreme, and highly talented this band really is, I mean you just can't. The guitarist simply blew me away, in every song, he plays all kinds of long solos, winding, circular, whirling, harsh, extreme guitar riffs and patterens, and scales, and all kinds of stuff. At first, I thought this band had 2 or 3 guitarists, but this is all being done by just one guitarist! So that REALLY shows how mature and educated and intelligent he is in his music. You got to hear it to belive it, I mean this band is truly doing the unthinkable. You couldn't even dream about such guitar talent like this, I mean this stuff is unimaginable, the stuff they're doing is impossible to play! Extreme, heavy, amazing talent DEFINETLY shows here, not just in the guitarist but in the whole band! The bass player is excellent becuase he follows the guitar notes, and he can do slap bass, the drummer is freaking crazy ass hell on the drums with all of his quick drumming, excellent timing, double bass pedal skills, and all of his drum and cymbal work and techniques, and I really like the vocalist too, he has a large range, he can scream from high pitched to low growls. These songs will blow your brains out, it really will, I was very shocked to hear this stuff. Listening to their songs is like riding a rollercoaster, becuase there's so many unexpected twists, turns, pauses, and loops. Their songs are just really unexpected, when you're hearing it for the first few times, you really don't know whats coming next. All the surprises this band does...I really like all the unexepcted pauses in some of their songs and then they start back up again unexpectly, that's really amazing how they time that. One of the things I'd really like to know about this band is what are their influences and what type of music do they listen to, some of their stuff sounds like jazz riffs. This stuff is just great. If you're a fan of heavy technical metal, then you defeintly need to give this band a listen. You WILL NOT be dissapointed at all.

These guys can't be for real. The guitarist is completely ridiculous. If you like freakish technical metal, this is "THE" album. Should be ranked up there with Dillinger's "Calculating Infinity."

i must admit i was horribly wrong about these guys. upon reading their description on metal blade's website, i was under the impression that these guys would be your typical run of the mill, technical metal band. not expecting much, i listened to death...i, in which i was greeted by an insane fingerpicking jazzy intro, and from that point on i knew that psyopus were the real deal.

first let me give props to chris arp, the guitarist. this man can play, and when i first heard this CD, i sat listening in a daze. being a guitar player myself, i found it hard to believe that someone can move this fast, play this technically, and still be human. everyone else in the band seems to spend the whole keeping up with arp's maddening guitarwork.

the drummer is pretty intense, but he does fall trap to the predictable blastbeat. however, they really fit the shredding that arp is dishing out left and right. just to keep you off balance, there are some mini fills thrown in time to time, which just add to the intensity and don't throw the song off at all.

i haven't gotten to say this much, but the bass is AUDIBLE! yes, even during psyopus' most intense moments, with drums blasting, arp shredding, you can hear that bass just following the guitar, which is mostly what its doing throughout the whole cd. the vocals fit the music nicely as well, and while the vocalist has a more hardcore-ish screaming style, he fits the music perfectly. just imagine what we get to look forward to when the next psyopus cd comes out.

if you're looking for a band to save you from dillinger escape plans' awful "miss machine" (don't get me wrong i love DEP, but their new cd is horrible), or if you're just looking a crazed metal band on speed, look no further than psyopus.

This music is not for everyone, but if you happen to be a fan of The Dillinger Escape Plan, you must own this album. This is what it sounds like to be a schizophrenic on methamphetamines. Every single song is brutal, insanely fast, and masterfully composed. There really is no appropriate way to describe it in words. Buy it now.

This record is an absolute technical metal mind-f*ck.Think of a More Grind influenced dillinger escape plan.Their guitarist Christopher Arp sounds like he's on about a gallon of meth throught the whole record.This guy can seriously play.The guitar work is borderline ridiculous.I think it would be really difficult to find any guitarist in the genre who can play better.The songs,while great..take a few listens to get into because of the complexity of the music.This is definently not for everyone,but if you love your music technical and crazy as hell..I highly suggest picking this up.

I'm probably not suppose to bash people on this website, but "pianopest" deserves a bashing. He is indeed a pest. Well sir, where am i to begin with you. I mean, you started by saying something that was intelligent. This album is definately complex, but where do you get off trying to infer that the four fine young musicians in PsyOpus have wasted their intelligence. That is just something that you have no write to say. Unless you can prove you have sat down with these guys and talked to them to figure out who they are and what they have gone through to become who they are today, then you really just can't go around saying that the art they have produced is un-intelligent. Oh, and i would be very interested in looking at the brain studies you've acquired that prove this music causes irreperable brain damage. And off the topic of music(you took it there) don't you think it is a little harsh to say that everyone who has been on Fear Factor is a masochist. Some people could give two sh**s less what they are doing, it's more about the element of fear and danger, not the fact that what they are going through might be considered indecent or grotesque. You need to wake up and realize that people will do as they please in this day and age, and you were not put on earth to judge them of their actions decent or not. Next up, but again off topic, i'm not liking the Taco Bell reference but i'm not sure what your intentions were so i'll move on. Then you ramble off some more thick headed bull about PMS that you probably once again have no f**king clue what you're talking about, but whatever. No point in even trying on that one. Moving on, "I give this CD 5 stars because it has a horrible beat...". If you think that this album has a so called "horrible beat" then i don't even know why you bothered writing this review because it just proves once again how thick headed you really are. I would love to see you sit down at a drum kit and make an attempt at pulling off just one of the songs they have written. you probably wouldn't even come close. don't try and comeback with some sort of revenge review either. you'll probably just bash me on my grammar, or my spelling, but i really don't give a f*** because you have already proven what a dumb dipsh** you are. and i won't come back to see it anyway. so have a wonderful life. Peace.

THIS SH#T IS FREAKING BANANAS AND WILL BLOW YOU AWAY LIKE YESTERDAY'S NEWSPAPER. IF "DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN" AND "THE DAUGHTERS" HAD A BABY THEY'D CALL THE FREAK "PSYOPUS". THAT BEING SAID GO PICK IT UP AND TRY TO STAY ON THE ROAD.