Our Puzzling Encounters Considered

Psyopus | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 20, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Metal Blade
• ASIN: B000MCICNI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,974 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #84 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Hardcore

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Noisier than a 50-car pile-up and more disorienting than a spin on a demonic merry-go-round, the music of Psyopus provides the listener with an endless barrage of challenging riffs and rhythms that, like much arriving to the second tier of mathcore, fails to be wholly memorable. The jarring, nightmarish guitar figures in "2" are undoubtedly impressive as is the gentle and beautiful moment of calm, "Siobhan's Song." The sheer athleticism of tracks such as "Whore Meet Liar" and unimaginatively titled "Play Some Skynyrd" is dealt in equal supply and skill. On the whole, there's enough aural action to inspire a month-long bout of insomnia as the listener tries to figure out how so many disparate but relentlessly aggressive elements are pieced together. But tricks such as these––inexplicably shifting tempos, moods, time signatures, and plainsong vocals––can't make up for the fact that Psyopus seems largely incapable of writing a straightforward and coherent song that can stir a series of diverse moods and emotions in the listener. Remove "Siobhan's Song" from the picture and Our Puzzling Encounters Considered is all dull, monochromatic rage.––Jedd Beaudoin

Product Description

From Rochester, NY, Psyopus create heart attack-inducing, grinding metal, that conjures up whirlwinds and tidal waves of ab...see site for more info.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful!, April 27, 2007

By 

Thomas Anderson (Wilmington, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Our Puzzling Encounters Considered (Audio CD)

This is exactly the kind of music I have been waiting for since Dillinger screwed the pooch. The technicality is great. What an amazing guitarist & drummer. This is more along the lines of extreme metal than tech. The murderistic screaming is what gets me. Congrats on a great album.. To me, this is one for the ages. Will not disappoint ( if you can handle it ).

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Staggering, February 25, 2007

By 

General Zombie (the West) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Our Puzzling Encounters Considered (Audio CD)

Their previous release, "Ideas of Reference", readily established Psyopus as one of the premier tech-metal bands on the planet, and Chris Arp as one of the most unique and astounding metal-guitarists around. Now we have "Our Puzzling Encounters Considered", which is even better, topping it on all fronts with more memorable, distinguishable songs, better, more varied vocals and even more incredible musicianship. Suffice to say, no fan of tech-metal should hesitate for a single second before buying this.

Psyopus is all about the guitar, and Chris Arp is a guitarist like no other. There are plenty of lightning-fingered guitarists in the metal world today, and many of them are pretty interchangeable, but you only need to listen any Psyopus song for a few seconds to identify Arp. He eschews the typical Neoclassical runs in favor of an inexplicable barrage of jagged and atonal jazz licks augmented with a endless hammering, tapping, pull offs, sliding, use of the tremolo arm and numerous other techniques all of which are run through a dizzying array of endlessly changing, complex rhythms. Most staggeringly, he applies these methods to the so-called rhythm parts, though he does mix in plenty of more typical, angular tech-metal riffing a la The Dillinger Escape Plan. The other instruments are certainly incredibly impressive as well particularly the frenetic and blasting jazz/metal fusion drumming, but they're almost inevitably in the supporting role. The vocals are standard 'core style howling, though I think they're a bit more varied and memorable this time around.

Most impressively, "Our Puzzling Encounters Considered" actually contains songs which can be distinguished from one another. That said, I'm gonna spend much time considering the individual tracks, since I don't think I'm capable of describing them with sufficient detail to make them sound different on paper, but I, nevertheless, still can view this as a collection of tracks rather than just a collective experience, like lots of extreme metal releases. (Even the good ones) There are a handful of exceptions to the general frenetic style, specifically the two gentle, instrumental tracks, "Imogen's Puzzle pt. 2" and "Siobhan's Song". The former is fun little bit of atmospheric and demented carnival music, while the latter is a very calm, slow building weave of pretty guitar lines and arpeggios backed by some keyboards and other things. Both fine tracks, and a nice change of pace. Of the typically heavy and insane tracks, "Kill Us" is easily the finest, with Arp's must stunning licks and riffs of all topped with some particularly intense vocals and a nice jazzy interlude. "Scissors ... Paper Doll" is another particular standout, with plenty of crushing rhythms and a chorus (!) while "Insects" particularly stands out by having probably the most slick and insinuating guitar lines on the album. Most significantly, apart from the the joke track at the end, there are no wasted or unnecessary tracks on this album.

Ehh, I guess that's it. This is a pretty stunning achievement within the genre, and it's gonna be tough to find a better tech-metal album than this this year.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A metal must have, February 23, 2007

By 

Jonathon M. Rose (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Our Puzzling Encounters Considered (Audio CD)

I'd only read about this band from this website, and was even more intrigued upon finding that they hail from right here in Rochester. It's always cool to find a really good local band that's making waves. Their first album was absolutely flooring, technical wizardry, intense and aggressive yet a lot of jazz influences to give color and make the album better rounded. The main problem with that disk is its really short, only about 30min long with a long last song which is mostly odd recordings of old people. This disk is significantly beefier, both in album length and also song length. If anything the music is more complex, more in your face than before. This band might be on the verge of dethroning Dillinger in the tech/math metal scene. Still what impressed me most about this album, was the diversity. Two instrumental tracks and the second nearly 10 minutes in length. Arp has already shown he can play disgustingly fast. Here he demonstrates he's aptly capable of fine technical nuances, and real emotion. Some of the bands best playing is on that track. I was also pleased with the quirkiness of this disk. There seems to be a lot of Rock in Opposition influences in the structure and sound. Think Avahk and some Thinking Plague experimenting with metal and you'll get the general idea. The vocals are better this time around as well, deeper and with more confidence. Lastly there are two bonus tracks, apparently the album deals with a good amount of bi-polar themes and of course with jerky girl friends. So you get an answering machine message from a bi-polar girl going back and forth with love and hate. This goes on repeat with the word "annoying" for about 20 minutes (I ended up fast forwarding to see how long it went on for. For the record though this type of looping which leads into fooling your ears to hear different sounds was done by Steve Reich a long time before this but anyway...) When it finally ends we get a bonus song of sorts for another 5 min or so. But the song is disjointed and not very good so really after the real album is over its best to end the disk, listen to the other once for the heck of it, but I doubt anyone will find it worth waiting for. To sum up, this is a brilliant release by a VERY talented young band, and anyone who likes this form of music, and also likes creative experimentation should buy it as soon as they can. You won't be sorry.