A lifeform ignited during 2020 continues to stalk Hellenic lands, and now its madness is fully manifest on a new trip from STARTTHEMONKEY. The intrigue surrounding this name is matched by the post / experimental tendencies of their craft, with Urban Psyche now expanding on the debut EP’s dark variations, and “Why” drives those effects further with traces of psychedelia and dread weaved over diverse rhythmic structures. An allure is captured during sections of cooperative flow between riffing and drums, which lead to pits of trudging doom paralleled by deep vocal rasps, and other rhythms strike formidably in riffs that later become atmospherically charged. Ominous shifts occur on “Cave,” where clean vocals coincide with the eeriness of arpeggiated melodies, and those noted currents persist in conspiracy with chords to evoke a cumulative orchestral menace. The cavernous aftermath drifts into “Follow Through,” and different levels of disembodiment intersect here to form an instrumental of dark aural profusions.
That atmosphere crosses to the dreary pulsing of bass and ritualized drums on “Deadly Crime,” effectively spotlighting those foundations until the melody develops heavily, and percussion matches the detail of some murky fret patterns during a launch toward epic territories. A purposeful beat there accompanies the tremolos unfolding into leadwork, which seals this track as a standout before its energy disintegrates to reach the desolate streets of “Passage I,” and they howl aptly with effects and minimal arrangements allowing for sections of spoken narration. The clean notes provide a haunting enhancement to words documenting meaningless repetitions and tedium in daily life, and a punk element is distinguished among riffage that proceeds with prevailing bleakness, along with other entrancing and hallucinogenic qualities experienced as this affliction is punctuated through a dense glaring stride. Demise falls when executing “Strength of Suicide,” and flutes captivate around its malevolent areas, where shadows are also compounded by a marked vehemence in the vocals. Contrast then emerges in a grand melodic advance that harmonizes fluently with sung verses, and a suitable end reveling in seclusion and ruin is reflected instrumentally on “By the Creek.” The diversity harnessed on Urban Psyche further qualifies a distinct and remarkable strain of extremity for STARTTHEMONKEY, whose evolution will surely be compelling to follow across their becoming discography.
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