Review: Psilocybe – Strange Place

Style: Progressive Metal, Avant-Garde Metal (clean, female vocals)
Recommended for fans of: early Mastodon, Death, Diablo Swing Orchestra (this makes sense I swear)
Review by: Sam
Country: US-NJ
Release date: 7 April, 2023

A few weeks ago I reviewed Pleasures, a band who gave no fucks about genre conventions and thoroughly did their own thing. After reviewing two relatively tame bands in Anoushbard and Vedalia, we’re back to the ??? territory of progressive music. In short, Psilocybe is a progressive metal/punk band from New Jersey, United States that otherwise eschews genre lines completely. There’s not much information on them out there, so let’s just dive into this latest installment of Bandcamp monstrosities melting my brain.

What stands out most to me with this group is the general unhinged energy their music gives off. Whereas Pleasures just had a natural sound that defied classification, this band shines in how they effortlessly throw in whatever fits in the moment. You’ll have a relatively melodic chorus vocally but underneath it all they switch from punk beats to tech death to black metal to whatever the fuck. It’s like you’re listening to an ADHD brain turned into music. It’s energetic, chaotic, yet weirdly focused and straightforward all at the same time. I said this is a punk band as well, but really it’s only the vocals that have a consistent punk sensibility. The rest is all over the place. 

 “No Life Left on Mars” is a great indication of what the band is capable of. There’s a vague punk attitude, but also thrash and extreme metal that permeate the thing. And of course, it’s prog as well, so expect plenty of switch-ups in tempo, texture, and time signatures. Yet somehow amidst the chaos it’s got some weirdly catchy hooks and still feels accessible. “La Sirena” takes a more alternative route with the weirdness and throws what I think is surf rock into the mix now too. It starts goofy but quickly starts running through brick walls with adrenaline with killer riffs and blistering guitar solos. Throughout the rest of the album we also see the band playing around with more atmospheric ideas reminiscent of stoner rock/metal, System of a Down-styled rhythmical vocal lines, grindcore, and more. 

But what’s really neat about Psilocybe is how focused everything feels. Throwing in this many experiments can quickly sound incoherent, but they wrap these things pretty tightly into their songs. They have a great foundation they can fall back on. It’s a bit like that dryer, very technical, riff-oriented style of prog metal you had a lot of in and around the 90s (think Spiral Architect, early Psychotic Waltz, Mekong Delta, and so on), but infused with a strong punk energy and modern metal sensibilities. Every song is chock full of adrenaline, technicality, and neck-breaker riffs. And of course, weirdness, but you knew that already.

The issues I have with this album mostly come down to how amateurish it can sound. The production on the drum cymbals is terrible, producing a very muddied sound. It’s also a pretty inconsistent experience all around. Some songs lack good hooks or direction, and all the experimentation – while fine on a song-level – can detract from the album flow on a few occasions. Hence sometimes it feels rather scatterbrained. 

But honestly, isn’t that exactly the charm when it comes to underground bands like this? Psilocybe embodies everything I love about digging up the most obscure things imaginable. The production and packaging are thoroughly lacking, but the passion and talent is sky-high. They didn’t even have a Metal-Archives or RateYourMusic page when I found them for Christ’s sake, and they’re probably obscure for a reason. Yet, if you are reading this and have an affinity for bands with an attitude, I strongly implore you to give this a listen or two (or ten!). These are exactly the type of diamond-in-the-rough bands I live for.

Recommended tracks: No Life Left on Mars, La Sirena, Voices & Faces, Flying Saltshakers of Death
You may also like: Flummox, Acrylazea, Soul Enema, In Lingua Mortua
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Independent

Psilocybe is:
– Ishi Anais (vocals)
– Michael Realista (guitars, vocals)
– Marcus Acosta (guitars, bass, vocals)
– Marc Pappalardo (drums)