Photo by Gert Stockmans
“…a towering, epic song that holds your attention for its entire lengthy running time.” — BrooklynVegan
Belgium-based psychedelic metal trio PSYCHONAUT is pleased to unveil their stunning video for “Violate Consensus Reality.” Now playing at BrooklynVegan, the track comes by way of the record of the same name, set for release on October 28th via Pelagic Records.
With music deeply rooted in communal meditation sessions, PSYCHONAUT is a unique entity in the Belgian metal scene and beyond. The mantric title track of their upcoming second album sees the trio once more aligned in body and mind as they appeal to the listener with a nine-minute atmospheric slow burner. Their stature is once more affirmed by guest vocals from Amenra’s Colin H. van Eeckhout and Brutus’ Stefanie Mannaerts.
Notes the band in part, “Violate Consensus Reality explores and envisions new ways of organizing humankind, drawing inspiration from the notion that we are all part of a living, conscious universe rather than a dead, meaningless one. The title track conveys the desire to awaken from a story of separation in which we have been molded all our lives. It is easy to get lost in short-term comfort and escapism, thus keeping us from doing the necessary internal work to detox from this material, superficial worldview. Only by going against this consensus of separation, can we start to lay down the foundation for the more beautiful world we know is possible….”
Read more and view PSYCHONAUT’s “Violate Consensus Reality” at BrooklynVegan HERE.
View PSYCHONAUT’s previously released track for “Interbeing” at THIS LOCATION.
Violate Consensus Reality will be released on CD, LP, and digital formats. Find preorders at THIS LOCATION.
Violate Consensus Track Listing:
- A Storm Approaching
- All Your Gods Have Gone
- Age Of Separation
- Violate Consensus Reality
- Hope
- Interbeing
- A Pacifist’s Guide To Violence
- Towards The Edge
The immense success of PSYCHONAUT‘s Pelagic debut album Unfold The God Man, which has been repressed three times throughout the pandemic, has proven that PSYCHONAUT is a force with which to reckoned.
The three gentlemen from Mechelen, Belgium now return with a ferocious and muchly anticipated concept album that proclaims the formation of a new world through the acceptance of a new human identity. “We’ve always been interested in religion, spirituality and philosophy,” explains vocalist/guitarist Stefan de Graef about the music of PSYCHONAUT. “We’ve meditated together, had long discussions about the nature of life, and we share a common vision.”
Now, with the release of their sophomore album Violate Consensus Reality, the Belgian three- piece take you on a visceral trip into our collective human consciousness. A journey marked by ex-plosive riffs, soaring vocals and intricate yet catchy compositions. An impressive album which cements PSYCHONAUT‘s standing as aspirants to the throne of the contemporary European progressive/post metal community.
“We distance ourselves from a system that is based on the idea that humanity is fundamentally bad and needs protection from itself in the form of a hierarchy,” continues De Graef about PSYCHONAUT’s latest album. “By no longer subscribing to the notion that we are all separate beings in a separate world that is dead and pointless, we embrace the vision of a new civilization that is rooted in the idea that we are part of a living, sacred universe.”
Likening our present state of separation to “an island on oceans grown, designed to bear unpredictable wrath,” the band accompanies their denunciation by punishing riffs and heavily syncopated rhythms, grabbing you by your guts and taking you on a turbulent journey. Violate Consensus Reality engages the senses in a way that is quite rare for concept albums, it is raw and brutal, unlike the lofty concept albums of yore with their endlessly repeating motifs and needlessly complex song structures. It stands in a long tradition of activism in music, but it also deconstructs this tradition by taking its loud and admonishing tone and providing it with a thoughtful base rooted in philosophy and spirituality.
Considering their noble goal of envisioning a brighter world, PSYCHONAUT have chosen a seemingly peculiar album title, yet somehow it perfectly captures the nature of the record. It’s all found in the word violate, which is always a negative word, e.g. a violation of rights, a person getting violated, etc. It’s never positive and certainly in the light of recent events—the #metoo-movement, the Covid-pandemic, the over-turning of Roe vs. Wade by the US Supreme Court—an especially powerful image. On the contrary, the word consensus is generally considered a positive notion, but on Violate Consensus Reality it is the central idea against which the band declaim.
This subversiveness is characteristic of the mindset needed to approach the music of PSYCHONAUT. Violate Consensus is not for the faint hearted, concept-wise but also music-wise as it contains some of the most gnarly riffs and technical playing on any PSYCHONAUT record to date. Violate Consensus Reality constitutes a wild ride from the breakneck paced riffing of “A Pacifist’s Guide To Violence,” through the undulating neo-classical piano passages of “Hope” to the glorious finale of “Towards The Edge.” The mantric title track opens with the angelic voice of Stefanie Mannaerts (Brutus) and slowly builds up to erupt in an explosive sermon delivered by Colin H. van Eeckhout (Amenra, CHVE, Absent in Body), the appearance of both gifted musicians affirming PSYCHONAUT’s stature in the Belgian metal scene and beyond
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