By Jase Walker
Somehow, I nearly missed this show being booked in at Tolhuistuin in Amsterdam up the road from me but managed to get myself along at short notice for a band I’ve fallen in love with recently, Psychonaut. Another Pelagic Records special existing in the weird part of post-metal adjacent noise and blew me away again at Pelagic Fest in Maastricht earlier this year. Not just that though, they’ve dropped an absolute masterpiece of an album a short while ago, ‘World Maker’, and I just can’t stop listening to it!
Sadly the opening act, An Evening With Knives, had to drop off the show tonight due to an emergency which was worded in such a manner that it’s fully understandable that it was necessary. The door times were knocked back slightly to compensate but Psychonaut are still making it happen and I’m looking forward to a set with a ton more ‘World Maker’ content in it so it’s not all bad eh?
The room darkens, the lights take the focus off the back panel of their band logo and face forward while an ominous tone fills the air. Psychonaut know how to build an atmosphere before they even get on stage. I’m immediately swept away right from the first song, all the emotions from just listening to ‘World Maker’ come flooding back to me but so much more intense.
It’s genuinely impressive how much atmosphere a three-piece band can make, even with minimal use of backing tracks. Psychonaut has a sound that smothers you like a blanket, feeling far greater than the sum of its parts. Clever use of reverb and delay driven guitar work, melodic bass work that dances around the neck and drums that are rarely not grooving away across the cymbals and toms in equal measure.
There’s always something going on in Psychonaut’s music to pay attention to, often sounding like there’s supposed to be several other members around on stage to fatten the sound out. This, in addition to an extremely busy light show wraps its arms around you and demands your attention for its duration.
With a style that echoes the likes of The Ocean, there’s little wonder they ended up on a label like Pelagic but that’s not to undersell their fantastically unique sound that mixes in psychedelic elements and beautifully intense melodic segments. It’s this sort of thing that really scratches an intense itch for me and draws me into a band like Psychonaut. Dreamy, yet heavy, ethereal, yet intense, riffy but very much not afraid of sonic exploration.
One thing that always stands out to me about these is the bouncy tapped melodies that pop up now and then, sound almost as if they’re going around in circles before jumping back into groovy riffs for the heavier segments. It’s one thing to record it and be done with it but to pull it off consistently and sound good live is another ballgame entirely but these guys pull it off consistently. Psychonaut carries their show with incredible intensity, well crafted and interesting music that ebbs between ambient moments and forceful passages, giving equal moments of being lost in the moment and wanting to throw your head back and forth so hard you give yourself whiplash.
We’re at the end of the show and it’s hard to believe just over an hour has come and gone within a flash and despite how much they’ve played I feel like we’ve barely gotten started. Psychonaut are an engrossing band that captures my attention every time from the first note played all the way to the end of the set. Every time I see them I’m that bit more into the show as I’ve spent more time between repeatedly listening to their albums and I leave every live show compelled to ramp it up more every time.
I genuinely think they’ve managed to outdo themselves with ‘World Maker’ and I don’t doubt the next time I see them I’ll be belting out every single word. ArcTanGent next year is going to be a big one for me as I’m already counting the days until I see them again.
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