A couple of years back I was confronted with the Danish band The Psyke Project when they supported a Textures show in my hometown. That day I was more blown away by the band in question than by those Dutch metal heroes. But honestly I never took the effort to check out their records, and a disappointing live show earlier this year didn’t convince me to do so either. So last year’s Apnea is my first recorded introduction, which is now re-released by Lifeforce Records.

 

As the bio informs me, the band started out with mixing the key elements of some of their favourite bands, which are Neurosis, Converge, Will Haven and early Isis. This results in a wall of sound that can either be doom/postcore or harsh and aggressive hardcore. Renowned produced Tue Madsen took the noble task of mixing this disc, which made sure it has a clear sound (for as far as necessary), yet it is as massive as a battalion of mammoth tanks. You know, those from Command and Conquer.

 

So there’s a pretty diverse sound to listen to, which is enhanced even more by the dynamic vocals. Therefore it took me quite a while to really let the album get to me in the way it’s supposed to get to me, but in the end it was worth the effort. Apnea is definitely a great album that will inspire me to go out and get their other albums when I get the chance. And I will give them another chance at one of their concerts, I just hope they get a second guitarist back to really deliver their massive sound like they used to.