OUTER HEAVEN
OUTER HEAVEN – “Infinite Psychic Depths”
by Thor
If it were possible to rank the states within the continental U.S. by the quality of the extreme metal acts that have gurgled into existence from within their borders, then Pennsylvania would rank at or near the very top. PA boasts heavyweights from nearly every extreme subgenre, from hardcore to black metal. And one such act—OUTER HEAVEN—has taken the best elements of all of it and built a death metal weapon to be reckoned with.
OUTER HEAVEN’s past material always raised eyebrows with its ambition and potential, but also remained a bit unfocussed. The band’s new LP “Infinite Psychic Depths” sees them hone their approach with a sound and style that pulls all that potential together and delivers an album that feels like something I haven’t heard in a long time. It harkens back to the pre-digital age when metal bands each had a typifying sound that was immediately recognizable.
OUTER HEAVEN’s sound rests upon a foundation of guitars that form a thick and organic wall. They sound the way gained out, aggressive guitars did before we all jumped into the matrix. The drums have heft and power, and, most importantly, some humanity. And the vocals are a multilayered cacophony of cavernous gutturals that glue this sonic monster together. The production and the songwriting collide and form an unbelievably heavy album full of songs that are both twisted and somehow accessible, sick and bizarre, yet also catchy and familiar. Well, for people like us, anyway.
OUTER HEAVEN’s “Infinite Psychic Depths” is hurtling towards my Best of 2023 list as I type this. The band deserves the lion’s share of the credit for perfecting what they’d started on 2018’s “Realms of Eternal Decay” but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Ryan Reed and Greg Wilkinson who respectively engineered and mixed/mastered “Infinite Psychic Depths” at Earhammer Studios. The album sounds immense.
If you’re a fan of death metal who’s been feeling a bit fatigued by the “sameness” of things lately, then OUTER HEAVEN’s “Infinite Psychic Depth’s” might be just the cure you need.