Nervecell – Psychogenocide (Unique Leader)
Sunday, 1st February 2015
Originally released back in 2011 Nervecell’s second offering, Psychogenocide, was unearthed from the depths by death metal mongrels Unique Leader Records. As the band are currently writing their follow-up to be released later this year, Psychogenocide offers a glimpse into the band’s sound for those who may have missed out the first time around.
There is a potent production to Psychogenocide that cannot be denied. With an initial production and engineering job at their home in Dubai, the drums were engineered by Pyscroptic’s Joe Haley in Australia, while mixing/mastering was left up to Wojtek and Slawek Wieslawscy (Behemoth, Decapitated, Vader) in Poland. So truly an international affair with this one! Apart from a guest appearance from Nile’s Karl Sanders on the track “Shunq,” that’s the most interesting thing that could be said about the album.
Despite the Middle Eastern background, there are only bits and pieces where these influences show (opener “Anemic Assurgency” and the afore-mentioned “Shunq” are two examples). So what you are left with is a fully competent offering of death/thrash that never really feels like it’s reaching outside of the ordinary (despite an extraordinary production team). Nervecell does have a knack for tossing in a few killer riffs from time to time, particularly when they emphasis their thrashy muscles (“Under an Epidemic Scheme” and “Amok Doctrine”), but most of the songs tend to blend together and the 45-minute runtime just seems to linger past it’s usefulness.
While there is nothing inherently “bad” about Psychogenocide, and Nervecell prove themselves to be quite proficient players, nothing brings the band out of the generic. If they could bring in more of the Middle Eastern influences successfully in their sound, they could really up their intensity (and diversity). We’ll see what this year brings with their official Unique Leader debut.
