Psyanide, are a Greek melodic death metal band that has been around since 2012, releasing the, 'A Violent Stating'  EP in 2014 and working the live circuit. 2018 finally saw the release of their debut full-length, 'I Declare War', through Straight From The Heart Records, a record that had quite a few people interested in seeing where they were headed, and how they would get there.

As expected, the sound sits evenly between the technicality and epic soaring of melodic death and the thick, bludgeoning attack of groove metal, with some atmospheric foundation to give the aggression some room to breathe. The production is on-point for this kind of music: clean; polished; fat bottom-end; with a crisp snappiness on the solos (very much in The Haunted vein) and the guitars working in harmony to produce various states of emotion. It’s a solid chunk of music that’s geared towards a specific audience and has all the right elements in place, with all the players working together as a tight unit and throwing fists left and right.

Unfortunately, we’ve heard it all before. The throaty and violent vocals of Διονύσης Κλόκας are extremely effective, but everything from the delivery to intonation are a carbon copy of Randy Blythe from Lamb Of God, to the point where if you close your eyes, you can actually picture him on the mike. In fact, a fair whack of the music (from delivery to the production) sounds very similar to Mr Blythe’s band, with hardcore tinges embraced by suffocating riffs and shot out with adrenaline-fueled aggro, the lyrics are a dark portrait of war and earthly suffering. For some, a Lamb Of God for a new generation is something that may excite, but their composition chops aren’t quite there yet.

The first few tracks certainly get the blood pumping (especially album-opener ‘Come Undone’ and the electrifying ‘From Flesh To Gold’), but the patterns soon emerge, and the attention level starts to drop off. Even with all the technical fireworks and glittering display, the songs refuse to break out of the box and there’s a feeling of repetition throughout that makes the last half of the album difficult to sit through. That said, there are times when you can hear Psyanide as they truly are, and that’s where the band need to focus if they are to stand out from the pack.

I Declare War is well-made, powerfully played, and a pretty good time if you can look past the glaring copy/paste of their influences, but the band need to look at their strengths, accentuate them, and come up with their own unique spin on the melodeath/groove genre if they are to make an impact. They have all the necessary tools and talent to do so, and I look forward to (hopefully) watch them evolve in the future.

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