Psyco Drama was one of the many bands in the mid 90s that tried following the blue print created by Dream Theater and Fates Warning. They were one of those “third tier” ones that released a couple of albums before disbanding. I own “The Illusion” which was their debut and it never really did anything for me 20 years ago.

Psyco Drama has reformed with original vocalist Corey Brown still sounding great. The problem is that they haven’t changed much from 20 years ago. The songs aren’t bad but they aren’t very good either. The band are good players but you can pretty much predict what each section of each song is going to sound like.

The songs range from the mid-tempo tracks like the title song and “Far From Grace” to slower tracks like “Requiem” and “A New Day.” The band has 2 basic speeds. The bigger issue is the production and mix which is pretty weak. All the songs lack punch and are very quiet EXCEPT ONE! “A New Day” is actually loud…well it’s probably a normal level but the rest of the album is so damn quiet, it seems loud! [See note below from the band on this matter!!]

The other issue is that the approach on every song is basically the same. The riffs are similar, there are no real fireworks despite the shredding done by guitarist Hercules Castro. None of the songs ever challenge the listener at all. In fact, the closing track “To Live Again” has some strange keys on it that are actually different but sound out of place because the band rarely stray from their formula!

Psyco Drama will satisfy those prog metal fans who haven’t left the mid 90s and limit themselves to only bands that sound like combos of Dream Theater or Fates Warning. So there is an audience for these guys. 20 years later, they still do nothing for me. Although, it still pisses me off the way they spell PSYCHO.

A note from the band:

What we discovered is that, of the eleven tracks we provided to our PR firm, we mistakenly provided ten un-mastered tracks. This was a simple file sharing error, but it has had a significant impact on how we are being evaluated by the media.

On October 30th, CDs and digital downloads of From Ashes To Wings will be available for purchase worldwide. We want to assure our fans that the correct files have been delivered to the CD manufacturer and digital media manager. Anyone who purchases this release can expect the highest quality audio.

Rating: 5.5/10
Tracklist:
1. Inferno
2. From Ashes to Wings
3. Far From Grace
4. Requiem
5. Edge of Forever
6. A New Day
7. All That We Have
8. Sea and Sky
9. Broken Road
10. Paralyzed
11. To Live Again

Label: Pride and Joy
Website: www.psycodrama.com