Photo credit: Olga Kozmemko
After a heroic performance at this year’s Bloodstock Festival, Dublin thrashers Psykosis have certainly earned their place as our Band Of The Day. Rana Rassouli got in touch to learn more about the holy trinity of “beer, thrash and craic”…
The unstoppable Pykosis hail from Dublin, Ireland, featuring Grant Walsh (Vocals and Lead Guitar), Shane Byrne (Drums), Jay Shaw (Bass) and Tony Corcoran (Guitars) who have been a prominent and consistently active band in the Irish metal scene. The 4 piece quartet are exactly what you would expect from a solid thrash band with their crazy fast tempos, accompanied with heavy metal aggression which simply ooze with energy, undeniably reflecting their exceptionally talented live performances that are never short of insane. Their latest EP ‘Toxic Terrorstorm’ consists of palm muted riffs, unholy solos, drum rolls and double bass that complete the band with their indefatigable sound; additionally, theyre wrapped up wonderfully with heavily distorted guitars and raw vocals that take you back to early Exodus and Annihilator. Their organic musical production and upbeat feel echo exactly what it is like to be at one of their shows. However, this deadly Irish combo dont stop the party just there!
With their second EP out now, and following their performance at the mighty Bloodstock Open Air as a result of their success in the battle of the bands competition, I thought this would be the ideal time to make Psykosis, the Irish Thrash Metal sensation, band of the day. The talented group of young thrashers have made their music publically accessible in the links below, and as a result of this have landed support slots to legends such as D.R.I, Evile, Onslaught and Sacred Reich, to name a few. Ultimately, I had a little chat with the talented bassist, Jay, to deliver some background and Psykosis future plans as a band before their earth-shattering performance at the upcoming festival.
WORDS:Rana Rassouli
WHO ARE THEY:Psykosis
WHERE ARE THEY FROM:Dublin, Ireland
FOR FANS OF: Annihilator, Testament, Warrent, Slayer, Municipal Waste, Overkill, Exodus, Evile
LATEST RELEASE:Toxic Terrorstorm
WEBSITE: Facebook, Soundcloud
Can you give us a brief history of how the band initiated?
Jay: “The band was formed back in 2008. We were all thrash fans and good friends so we all clicked straight away. Myself, Shane, Grant and our original guitarist Johnny would jam all Saturday afternoon and then drink till the early hours of Sunday morning. After Johnny and ourselves parted ways Tony turned up at my door one night with a bottle of Poitin and said ‘you dont know me but my name is Tony and Im in your band now’. To say he fitted the band like a glove is an understatement and since then we have gigged ourselves to death to spread the Psykosis message of beer, thrash and craic and gone from strength to strength.”
Can you tell us a little bit about the recording process of your upcoming EP Welcome To The Psyko Ward and what we should expect?
Jay: “The process was fairly straightforward. We went into the studio with a good friend of ours Steven Rahaman, who is not only extremely talented behind a sound desk but had filled in for us on guitar when Tony went on an Arctic adventure last summer, so he knew the songs very well. From what we are hearing of the album we are very excited and we cant wait to get it out to the people. The title is ‘Welcome to the Psyko Ward’ so you can expect a fast paced face melting burst of thrash to explode out your speakers when you hit the play button! This album will be relentless!”
Since you guys are very much Thrash-oriented, if you could organize a festival, which three bands would you choose to headline?
Jay: “It’s so hard to choose just 3! Has to be Slayer, Testament and Overkill for me. Wouldnt argue with anybody who would but Anthrax, Kreator or Destruction on their headline lists either.”
Could you tell us a little bit about any future touring plans? Are there any shows abroad youre particularly looking forward to?
Jay: “Plans are in the works for a string of UK shows that are not confirmed as of yet. It’s important for any Irish act to get off the island and start gigging in the UK and mainland Europe as soon as possible. It’s a great scene here but its largely ignored by the metal media the last few years. Any Irish band who has enjoyed major success hasn’t got it by staying in the country.”
As a hard hitting thrash ensemble that loves to party, what would we expect from one of your shows?
Jay: “You can expect insanity! When we play we leave it all up on the stage at every gig, live performance is what we pride ourselves on. Until our album comes out our only recording has been our 2008 demo so its been the shows we put on that have gotten us as far as we have so come on down and throw shapes at a Psykosis show!!”
What other bands in the local and international scene do you usually collaborate with?
Jay: “In the international scene we have been lucky enough to share the stage with some amazing bands like DRI, Sacred Reich, Onslaught, Gama Bomb and Evile. We are also playing with MOD on June 24th in Fibber Magees in Dublin, opening for Trivium at the Academy in Dublin June 17th and also Evile again on September 26th in the Voodoo Lounge in Dublin. Locally, weve played with nearly every Irish band more than once so that would be way too many awesome bands to name.”
What is the local scene where you live currently like? Any bands you could recommend to the readers out there who you like or feel an affinity / bond with? Also what is the local scene like venue wise?
Jay: “The local scene in Ireland is incredible. Whatever type of metal your into Ireland’s underground scene has a fantastic talented band ready to blow your mind. I’d recommend Animator, Killface, Warpath and Aesect. Great bands and good people, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg, I couldn’t recommend more taking an hour or two out of your day and checking out what the Emerald Isle has to offer for your aural pleasure.”
What are the plans for the rest of 2014?
Jay: “Our plans for 2014 are simple. Get the album out, destroy Bloodstock and get our album and love show to as many people as humanly possible. Great plans are in the works and all will be revealed soon so watch this space. This isn’t the last you will hear of Psykosis!”
The post Psykosis: Band Of The Day appeared first on Terrorizer.
