One of the things that I love about Psychonaut is their intensity: their music, at least on Violent Consensus Reality, has always bordered on the philosophical and on the intricacies of tempo and dynamics, vibrating with energy and a sense of euphoria that is incredibly infectious. This is music that deserves to be played loudly and in the open, blast radius be damned. Now, on their newest album, World Maker, the band offers another side to their music, a vulnerability builds over the course of its runtime.

Before starting the review, I just want to state that this will be very stream-of-consciousness. While I have spent a lot of time listening and picking up on World Maker’s nuances, there is so much detail that sticks out that there will be a lot to parse through.

The opening title track is an interesting introduction to an album in that it’s like a lullaby, both in sound and in rhythm. Unlike the beginning of Violent Consensus Reality, “World Maker” remains soft and contemplative throughout. There’s this sense of amazement and well-wishing for what’s to come, a hope that things go well. It’s a song about a new father telling their unborn child that they will “make the world,” that they will change it because they are in it. There’s so much here, all laid out so beautifully and softly that you don’t want to destroy the moment. However, as the album continues, one begins to notice that, underneath the softness “World Maker” established, something lurks underneath. What this infers is that the band’s focus is elsewhere, a deep sense of fear and awareness that becomes more prominent. This is highlighted across other tracks, such as “You Are the Sky…,” a song that starts with drumming similar to La Ley’s “El Duelo” that cues worry and desperation, as if you received news that you weren’t ready for. That drumming sticks throughout the song, driving in a ferocious, relentless pace that only slows down when the song has a “quiet” moment. It has a distinct layer of paranoia, as if you know something is coming but you ultimately have no idea until it happens. Another example is the free-jazz-esque “Origins,” a song that builds on itself while becoming more and more tonally dark before exploding in a flurry of heavy guitar and drumming, like a dam bursting open from the pressure it couldn’t contain. It builds on the paranoia that “You Are the Sky…” created, exacerbated by the usage of what sounds like strings, tabla, and haunting vocals that simulate a heartbeat. It’s constant, persistent, always in the background, and it adds to that ever-increasing feeling that something terrible was going to happen until it could no longer hold it together.

World Maker also has what I can only describe as a dual facet, as if the band wants to show aspects of themselves to others before putting up barricades. At times, the music feels incredibly personal, as if they are dealing with incredibly intimate matters that grants the listener insight into what went into the record. This is prevalent on songs like “…Everything Else is Just the Weather” and “Stargazer,” songs that radiate warmth and a sense of joy. Then, there are songs like “Endless Currents” and “And You Came With Searing Light” which showcases Psychonaut as the entity who makes complex music that pushes against post-metal’s boundaries. Here, they present to us a vision of who they are as a unit, their music having so much texture and rhythm that you can’t help but be awed by it. This is music created by people who clearly love it and incorporate so much into it that you don’t know when the musician ends and the band begins. It’s cohesive, beautiful, and straightforward, moving seamlessly from one track to another. Despite the album’s runtime, it doesn’t feel like an hour of music. Everything about World Maker – from the melody to the instrumentation – is incredibly intricate and filled with little details that makes you want to re-listen over and over. I have found myself coming back, again and again, to World Maker, each time finding something new that makes me smile or something that tugs at my heartstrings.

All in all, World Maker is an incredibly intense, emotional affair that is stripped from its more philosophical outlook. Unlike Violent Consensus Reality, which dealt with the idea of reality, World Maker is deeply rooted in the things that make us human: grief, joy, fear, warmth. This is an incredibly personal record that is filled with hope, and one that hopes to bring comfort to those whose grief and joy are running in tandem with each other.

— Hera

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World Maker will be available October 24 on Pelagic Records. For more information on Psychonaut, visit their official Facebook and Instagram pages.