ALBUM REVIEW: Psyop Of The Year – Eunoia
There are few bands treading the same path as EUNOIA. The threesome describe themselves as a ‘psychological operation’ and have spent the past four years treading the stages of lower-class America with a plan to (in their own words) “indoctrinate the youth, suppress free thought and relay tactics of control onto their peers”. So, with a band with this kind of intricate, in depth narrative, you can only imagine what is in store from the band’s debut full-length album Pysop Of The Year.
From the opening track A Snide Remark From The Invisible Hand this is an uncomfortable listen. And no, that is not a bad thing. The industrial feedback and layering of different samples coupled with the off-kilter rhythms create a sense of danger and unease and a sense that anything could happen over the remaining seven tracks.
Mozambique Drill has drums that are as impressive as they are unpredictable. This is where the band really show just how talented they are as musicians and how in sync they are with one another. The song doesn’t repeat itself for more than a couple of bars before diving headfirst into another impossibly complex rhythmic pattern, yet everything feels cohesive and seamless, not hashed together and messy. The following instrumental track Black Highlighter has the same feel, complete with blast beats and brilliant discordance from the guitars, never being stifled by being overly compressed in the mix. It still feels punk, it still feels DIY.
This is an album that is full of little surprises and Leather Lollipop is certainly one of them. The song feels like a poetry slam with CONVERGE providing the backing track, for the first half at least. The second half then shifts to an almost post-metal meets shoegaze hybrid but as though it’s being played by THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN in their prime, with the guitar laying down leads that are drenched in reverb. Nobody would ever have thought that combining so many sounds would work. In fact, most wouldn’t even attempt such a feat, yet somehow EUNOIA have made it work and in doing so have created a sound that is totally unique to them.
The album closer “Saddam Never Worked For The CIA” And Other Lies Your Father Told You is three minutes of unbridled rage. This is EUNOIA ensuring that they finish the album with a statement. The frenzied attack on display here is pure musical insanity, condensed into a burst of blackened violent aggression, pulverising what is left of the listeners’ ear drums and ensuring that the band have nothing left to give. This is maniacal and displays exactly what is missing form a lot of modern music: the unhinged nature of it all. This album is as intelligent as it is unstable, as menacing as it is serene, and frankly the sooner EUNOIA get out on the road, and we get a chance to experience this in its true form, the better.
Rating: 9/10
Psyop Of The Year is set for release on April 1st via Nefarious Industries.
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