True Tasmanian devils are the guys of PSYCROPTIC who really head from Tasmania, Australia, the birth place of that funny cartoon beast you might know from TV. But here is not the right place to talk about cartoons but music and in PSYCROPTIC’s case one can expect very twisted sounds blending contemporary brutal Death Metal with elements from progressive Death à la late DEATH, ATHEIST. High skilled musicians who know how to create memorable songs out of wicked riffs, surprising breaks, numerous tempo changes and a handful of melodies make “The Scepter Of The Ancients” a very impressive album on the musical side. In terms of the vocals I have to admit that I was only partially convinced, because despite the nicely varied growl / hysterical scream mix one has to face this modern vocal style where you do not understand a fucking word (sounds like “we we we” uttered in a very fast manner, try it out – it sounds stupid!). If you do not have a problem with this, check it out. Old school fans might be either disgusted or overtaxed by those parts. To sum it up, the new PSYCROPTIC is a pretty unique and diversified sounding release which should attract people who search for new dimensions in Death Metal. I’m not sure if I need to visit these, but they are definitely not completely without fascination. Visit www.uniqueleader-europe.com for sound files and additional infos on PSYCROPTIC. The band itself can be found at www.psycroptic.com.