10 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal Albums Of 2018

Part extreme prog, part groove metal and part heart-pounding melodic death metal, Psycroptic continued to put the “mania” into “Tasmania” this year thanks to As the Kingdom Drowns.

The quartet have been residents of Australia’s jam-packed prog metal underground (which also features such underrated magicians as Caligula’s Horse and Ne Obliviscaris) since 1999. During that time, they have been quietly churning out nothing but quality albums. So, for As the Kingdom Drowns to be one of their best speaks monumental volumes.

Structurally, the album’s songs are reminiscent of the brutal conciseness of At the Gates, while the heavy rhythms and technical guitars feel more akin to Decapitated. Combine these with the brief run-time of 35 minutes and As the Kingdom Drowns is pure adrenaline from start to finish. Clean backing vocals on “We Were the Keepers” and “Beyond the Black” only accentuate this element, to the point where the listener feels like they could bench-press a continental shelf.

There’s nothing about Psycroptic’s seventh album that doesn’t impress, and that prowess is complemented excellently by its raw power and incessant hooks. As the progressive metal scene Down Under continues to slowly find itself an audience, As the Kingdom Drowns is set to be an enormous catalyst in that process.