Psychic Equalizer 2020
Revealed
International team attempt to harness the hidden power of our world.
There was a wonderful intensity to this ensemble’s 2019 album – the tension that couldn’t be maintained for long and had to be toned down on their next record… or so it seemed. Indeed, the foursome’s follow-up EP features an acoustic reading of “Lonely Soul” from "The Sixth Extinction" as a finale, yet the download-only offering starts with something completely different, something fierce, if triumphant. The riff-laden, effects-spiced, fractured panorama of “Unveiled” is further torn by India Hooi’s idiosyncratic delivery and cooled with Hugo Selles’ piano splashes, which lead the heavy number beyond the prog pale towards magnificent serenity of “Summer Clouds”: the translucent, solemn ballad whose chamber beauty will gradually spread wings and soar.
But while “Away” flutters above Carlos Barragán’s six-string lace into folk-colored skies, its crystalline passion is revealing a familiar flame, one that this collective thrive on. Here’s the reason why “Lost In The Universe” can’t be marred by impressive shredding – the orchestral sway and the sweep of Camerata Coral de la Universidad de Cantabria’s voices take symphonic metal off the ground, too. There’s groove and grandeur vying for the listener’s attention and weaving a slightly incongruous tapestry: had the group stayed on the peaceful, rather than belligerent, course, the mini-album would feel truly fantastic, although as a tentative map for their next move, the EP’s almost perfect.
****4/5
