PSYCHOSOMATIK - RE/IN/TROSPECTIVE

The electro-industrial duo PSYCHOSOMATIK was formed by Michael Rouseel and Frederic Lecieux in September of 2000. As far as I can see on discogs, the project's debut album "Psychopath?" was self-released in 2003. A long gap occurred before their following album "State of Oppression" was put out in 2014. After another long period, PSYCHOSOMATIK returned in 2020 with a remix EP featuring the likes of Blut Reaktor, Destillat, and SA42. They quickly followed this up with "The Madman" EP in August of 2020 with an edit from SPANKTHENUN. A remastered track, potentially teasing their forthcoming release, 'FEARS (OF HALLOWEEN)' was put out in October of 2020. Now, in 2021, PSYCHOSOMATIK returns with not necessarily a brand new album, but more or less a collection of remastered, reworked, unreleased, and remixed songs titled "RE/IN/TROSPECTIVE". 



PSYCHOSOMATIK was kind enough to mark which songs are what on their Bandcamp page; tracks one and two are brand new; tracks four, five, and six are remastered; track three is reworked; tracks seven, eight, and nine were previously unreleased, and tracks ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen are remixes. Since these songs are separated into sections, I am going to go down the list of groupings and tell you all about them. 

'Damage Done' kicks off the album as one of the new tracks; while the track does not rewrite electro-industrial history books, it does the job. It's a workable dance track filled with cybernetic basslines and whispered yet aggressive vocals. Much the same can be said about the following track, 'Carnal Pleasure', although there is an increased focus on EBM. What I can not appreciate about the song no matter how many times I spin it are the vocals. It sounds as if Roussel is submerged in an ocean and is trying to yell to another being within the water. The band did state that the vocals sound deliberately weird as the lyrics are all about sex and wanted it to sound funny. Nonetheless, while the beat is good and fun, the vocals are not. 

The reworked track on the album is the edit of 'The Madman' by SPANKTHENUN that was originally released in August of 2020. If there is a difference in sound between the two songs, I'm not hearing it. But that does not stop SPANKTHENUN's edit from being any less fun; it's still a stompy and crunchy single that is one of the highlights on "RE/IN/TROSPECTIVE". 

The remastered tracks from "State of Oppression" are 'Bullfighter', 'No Time To Lose (Negociation Of Peace)', and the title track. There is a clear difference between these newly remastered songs and the originals. "State of Oppression", as it stands, sounds more like a demo of what was to come from PSYCHOSOMATIK. What PSYCHOSOMATIK has managed to achieve with these songs is transform them from a demo state to a well-produced, clean studio sound. If I had to pick a favorite from the three, it would be 'Bullfighter'; I feel as if it's just the most complete of the three. I was not a fan of the title track even after the remaster; it is a simplistic techno track without much meat to it. 

The unreleased songs are 'Check the Numbers (Feat. CAMUSCLE)', 'Release Me (Feat. OBE)', and 'Groundzero'. Of the three, I think that 'Groundzero' should have stayed unreleased; it's not necessarily a terrible song, but it is extremely repetitive even though it only lasts for a little bit more than three-and-a-half minutes. 'Check the Numbers (Feat. CAMUSCLE)' had a horror and sci-fi vibe to it, but 'Release Me (Feat. OBE)' caught my attention the most due to its focus on underground, cybernetic club music. 

Lastly, we come to the remixes by Blut Reaktor, Destillat, Shane August, and SA42. The remixes were okay but none of them stood out to me in comparison to the originals. I prefer the original version of 'Bullfighter' to Shane Aungst's and Destillat's remixes, and the original version of 'No Time To Lose (Negociation Of Peace' to Blut Reaktor's and SA42's version. While these versions aren't bad, I would call them decent at best. On each play of the record, I found myself somewhat bored towards the end with this chunk of music; I wanted to skip through them and get right back to the beginning of the album. 

Going into "RE/IN/TROSPECTIVE", I was expecting a result similar to this as is the case with a lot of compilation of songs from the past, present, and future. I always find myself picking and choosing songs that I enjoyed rather than appreciating the work as a whole because of the vast differences in song structures. This is the type of release where I would recommend my friends certain songs off the album but not the entirety of it. Nonetheless, I did enjoy myself throughout the album minus a few bumps here and there. If anything else, this compilation serves as a hint of what we'll get from PSYCHOSOMATIK in the future: better beats, better production, better sound. Go check it out. 

This review was commissioned through our Ko-fi page.
Mar 14 2021