Psychomancy – Divine Archetype

Psychomancy is defined as a form of divination involving communication with the spirits of the dead. It is also the name of a rather splendid symphonic melodic black /death metal outfit from Colombia. Their debut album “Divine Archetype” was originally released in digital form in July 2020. One year on it sees a relaunch in CD format. So, it’s a case of better late than never for this review.

The concept within its nine tracks concerns religion. It is not a religious work, nor does it concentrate on any specific religion. It’s more of a hypothesis regarding the origins of them all and the inevitable creation of God(s). As Voltaire famously said, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him”.

This is an exploration into the belief systems that enable those seeking power to control the masses. Sometimes this is through lies and fear, but ultimately with false promises. The journey starts at the beginning of time with an instrumental titled ‘Eon’.  Evoking vast emptiness initially, it opens out into a pounding choral extravaganza with far eastern undertones. It’s a short but dramatic opener that certainly whets the appetite.

What follows is eight tracks, all under five minutes long. There is no clean singing apart from the choral bits, but despite this the album has a melodic feel to it. It is the debut release by two members of Columbian goth metal band Gaias Pendulum. The vocals and keyboards are handled by Fernando Luna, while Lucas Fernandez supplies the guitar work. As there appears to be no other musicians involved, one can only assume that everything else is sampled.

The music is heavy, but the symphonic elements soften things somewhat. The riffs are catchy but powerful and the rhythms are infectious. The keyboards help to tell the story being told which veers into fantasy in the tracks ‘Zenith’ and ‘Vimana’. Here we are transported to the past, to another world where dimensionless beings created humanity. This in turn inspired the idea of the creator God.

‘Destiny’ has an intro with an evocative Middle Eastern feel to it. The melody within it is carried on into the heavier body of the track. The song personifies the archetype of time, the possibility of traveling through alternate dimensions to the past-like dreams. The nuances of the East are incorporated along with emotional ceremonial songs.

The inspiration for the song ‘Exiled’ came from the fable ‘The Nightingale’s Exequias’ by French poet Eliphas Levi. The fable was written in the 19^th century and inspired the band to write about the feeling of belonging to another world. The sense of not being part of reality. That feeling that all human beings have ever experienced when looking at the stars. This penultimate track has some of those catchy riffs I alluded to earlier.

So, we come to the final track ‘The Hidden Key’. It’s described as a song that opens the door to the archetype of darkness and the liberation of its demons. Encouragingly, it is most likely the central theme of a future album for Psychomancy. That’s music to the ears, literally! Hopefully, that is already taking form, because I for one look forward to hearing more from them. For now, this relaunch deserves plenty of promotion. This is melodic progressive death metal for those who don’t like their musical experience to be too brutal.

If you feel like getting further into the minds of the band and the story being told here. Go to the link below where you will find all the tracks complete with the lyrics.

Psychomancy – Divine Archetype – full play-list – (click here if the video does not play)

Track List:

1. Eon
2. My Faith
3. Zenith
4. Nation on Fire
5. Destiny
6. Vímana
7. Dead Tree
8. Exiled
9. The Hidden Key