Psychotic Waltz
Into the Everflow

THE REVIEW

Psychotic Waltz, originating from San Diego, can certainly be defined as the most unfortunate prog metal musicians in rock history (oops, I meant to say that rock history has forgotten). In fact, their respectable debut "A Social Grace", dated 1989, was released on a German indie label (Rising Sun Records), which soon went bankrupt. Then this "Into The Everflow" was released by another German indie label (Dream Circle Records) which also went bankrupt. To cap off the misfortune, if this seems little to you, the lead guitarist and pianist Dan Rock fell from a bridge and had to support the small promotional tour for this album while seated; on the other hand, the other guitarist Brain McAlpin was also recovering from a previous highway accident and was confined to a wheelchair.

Apart from their masterful string of bad luck, Psychotic Waltz are skilled musicians who indeed offer a kind of prog metal that blends psychedelia, suffocating and distressing atmospheres, suggestion, and poetry which now take the form of very delicate arpeggios and hyper-melodic solos, and at other times turn into powerful and heavy riffs and soothing and magnetic tribal rhythms. Recorded in Europe, precisely in Germany, after exhausting sessions in a very old medieval castle where the group decided to live - cunningly, I would say - during the cold winter of 1992, "Into The Everflow" is a more complex, dark, and finely crafted work than the previous, undoubtedly more compact, theatrical at times, and soft in its moments.

"Ashes", the semi-instrumental opening track, is an excellent calling card for the new Psychotic Waltz, who choose to weave magically spectral melodic lines thanks to a pompous and triumphant string intro that creates a ethereal and distressing climax up to Brian McAlpin's delicate arpeggio and Leggio's march and the evil explosion of the distorted guitars. "Ashes" is a fragment of serene and soft sky relentlessly slashed by a lightning bolt that only precedes an imminent storm; it is a melodic carpet, a sonic fresco that perfectly suits the exquisite vocal line of Buddy Lackey, which personally reminds me of David Bowie's voice in this piece.

A storm that arrives inexorably with the insane and psychotic dances of "Out Of Mind" and "Tiny Dreams", in which the frenzy and raw violence of the guitars create a very sharp and acidic groove that becomes more and more hysterical and tense until it reaches breaking point, especially due to the jolts and sudden breaks that animate them, almost poking at us irritatingly like animals cornered with no way out.

Following is the true gem of the platter, the psychedelic and mellifluous title track "Into The Everflow", where a sickly arpeggiated intro, and Lackey's almost whispered, serene and impalpable voice, the explosion of the two guitars that wrap tenaciously until the tightest grip until they dissolve in the central solo only to pierce soft flesh like cruel assassins with their nervous riff in the closing of the track and the punctual and cadenced rhythmic solution of Evans' bass and Leggio's drums create a small treasure trove of wonderful sensations, floating between stunning yet dark dreaminess and a decidedly blurred yet so powerfully direct reality.

Before the well-deserved rest comes the hysterical shock from listening to "Little People", which hinges on a disturbing riff and a masterful work by Leggio on the drums, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere, a cyanide-laced groove that Lackey's elusive vocals make even more sick. The well-deserved rest comes with the very sweet acoustic "Hanging on a String", a true poem that cradles and delivers emotions with every listen.

The platter closes with the granite and pressing "Freakshow", almost a punch in the stomach where Lackey surpasses himself, going from impossible and very acidic high notes to very sweet whispers, and the very wicked "Butterfly", another immense gem of the album, where Lackey and Rock transform into percussionists for the central section of a track unpredictable in its evolution, almost a heart fiercely torn out that lives on twitches (apart from the "Purple Haze" citation from Hendrix and "Aqualung" from Jethro Tull, whose Ian Anderson is Lackey's favorite singer).

Excuse the prolixity and thank you.

See Ya!