PSYKUP: The Joke Of Tomorrow (ALTERNATIVE METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Thirty years. An eternity in the chaotic world of extreme metal. Three decades in which the frenchies have trampled clichés and maliciously deplored musical conventions. To mark this symbolic milestone, Psykup are back in force with “The Joke Of Tomorrow”, their sixth kick in the metal ant-hill, marking as much a rebirth as a creative peak.

It's impossible to miss the striking artwork, in which a grimacing clown stares at an impassive boxer. A perfect metaphor for this album, on which Psykup shows its two faces: the unbridled madness that has always been its trademark, and a wisdom acquired with the merciless passing of the years and a partially renewed line-up. With the arrival of Matthieu Romarin on vocals to replace Matthieu Miegeville, the band has clearly found a new lease of life. Romarin brings an unprecedented depth to the extreme vocal parts, taking the music into more deatchcore, even death metal territory, while deploying a subtle melodic palette that harmonizes perfectly with Julien Cassarino's higher-pitched vocals.

“The Joke Of Tomorrow” is at once more direct, heavier and more accessible than "Hello Karma! If, since “Ctrl + Alt + Fuck”, Psykup has opted for more compact formats and tracks that get straight to the point, without abandoning their signature madness, this sixth album is clearly the culmination of this musical orientation. From ‘I Will Let You Down’, with its indus-metal-tinged deathcore charge, to ‘Same Player’, with its retro video-game sounds and funk groove, to ‘Bigger Than Life’, with its female backing vocals, the band excels in tone breaks, moving without warning from a crushing thrash riff to a crazy jazz section.

But it would be reductive to see “The Joke Of Tomorrow” as nothing more than a compendium of furious madness. The album hides nuggets of unsettling depth, such as ‘Death In The Afternoon’, which, with its oriental sounds and orchestral passages, reveals a more cinematic Psykup, or ‘The Joke Of Tomorrow’, a pop-rock ballad with almost mainstream overtones. This title alone sums up the philosophy of the album, which is placed under the sign of an obvious maturity, without renouncing its creative madness, and even less its artistic freedom.

After three decades of dynamiting codes, Psykup confirms with “The Joke Of Tomorrow” that the ostriches have not finished surprising us, and that they are not about to bury their heads in the sand. - Official website

PSYKUP

THE JOKE OF TOMORROW

VERYCORDS

ALTERNATIVE METAL