Psalm Zero
Force My Hand
Last Things Records
Street: 11.19
Psalm Zero = Godflesh + Big Black
This is a short, two-song EP from this NYC-based duo, who use mostly electronic instruments like synth and drum machines to achieve their dark sound. It’s tough to rate the band on this debut single, because one of the two songs is a cover of Today Is The Day’s “Willpower,” which they transformed from its distorted, noise-metal roots into a gothic dirge with what the band calls “medieval vocal harmonies.” It was an awful, droning mess. The titular track is decent enough, but didn’t at all get me jazzed to hear a full album’s worth of material. The percussion is repetitive, its riffs are mind-numbing, and the vocals are dull, but at least until the distorted screams arrive halfway through to provide some black metal frosting to the production. One can only hope the full release has a little adrenaline in it, as well as a better sense of what exactly the band is out to accomplish. –Megan Kennedy