Outopsya: Sum

The Italian band Outopsya (OUT OF PSYchical Activity) started in 2003 as a three piece and after a series of demos and a movie soundtrack have released their first full length album Sum. Throughout the last few years players have come and gone and the band swelled to five members in 2007. The new album features only Evan Mazzucchi (bass) and Luca Vianini (guitars, vocals, synthesizers, drum score) along with guest vocalist Ylenia Zenatti. As a side note you may be wondering if there is any significant meaning behind the strange acronym Outopsya and the answer is a resounding no. According to the band there is no meaning and the acronym is used solely for identification purposes.

This is another one of those albums that almost defies categorization due to the prevalence of so many musical styles. You will hear technical, progressive and doom metal, fusion, funk, electronic, experimental and progressive rock. Even bits of fantasy metal and psychedelic rock may crop up here and there. As you can probably tell there is a lot to take in and after several listens the music began to unravel revealing itself in all its complexity. My only problem with this release is it sounds a bit disjointed due to so many diverse influences but there is no denying the ambitiousness of the band's sound and the more one listens to it the more the music begins to make sense.

The album is bookended by "Lords Of Hate" and the title track with the former delving into a variety of genres including electronic, metal, funk and fusion which surprisingly melds together quite well, while the latter is truly experimental with strange sound effects, electronic parts and unusually distorted guitar riffs along with evil sounding vocals. Highlights in between include the complex "Möthal" where staccato guitar riffs are surrounded by swirls of synths and the somber "Tarred Life" that has subtle electronic elements and intensely whispered vocals. The heavy guitar rhythms and noodling synths sound pretty cool.

This is a challenging listen that may require a few spins to put it all into perspective. Those of you leaning towards the technical aspect of metal with a strong experimental approach will probably want to seek this one out. Those listeners with an open mind may also enjoy this journey. If still undecided I suggest you listen to the samples on their MySpace page to see if Outopsya is the band for you.

Track Listing:
1. Lords Of Hate (8:18)
2. Möthal (8:53)
3. Mus (3:07)
4. Don't Mind (6:39)
5. Tarred Life (5:24)
6. Mechanical 7 (4:46)
7. SandNess (9:58)
8. Sum (7:07)

Added: May 30th 2010
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band's MySpace Page
Hits: 2765
Language: english

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