“The mind is unusual and vast. It can pull you a million miles away from yourself, or a million miles deep within,” begins vocalist Austin Haines commenting on the influence of hallucinogens, a theme that shows up in his lyrics. “The only way to know is to take the trip.”
Outer Heaven turn their mind-altering imagery up a notch on Infinite Psychic Depths, the death metal quintet’s second full-length, a July 21 release via Relapse Records. An intense exploration of uncharted dimensions and cerebral prodding is generated through sinister riffs and perilous percussion. The beastly lead vocals of Austin Haines also provide its foreboding narrative. Haines draws inspiration for his other-worldly craft from myriad stimuli.
“It’s no secret at this point that I am a huge fan of the Alien franchise,” he acknowledges. “There’s something about the sense of dread created in those films—floating through the vastness of space—that really struck a chord with me long ago.” He doesn’t mind if his infatuation with the series inadvertently translates through the band’s material, confessing, “When you take that and couple it with the mind-bending visual work of H.R. Giger, it becomes something so elevated within the realm of cosmic horror and sci-fi that it just cannot be ignored. I like to think these aspects shine through a lot of what we do both visually and lyrically.”
Aside from psychedelics and Ridley Scott, the band has expanded since their 2018 debut full-length, Realms of Eternal Decay. “There are quite a few major factors that played into the writing process of Infinite Psychic Depths,” he explains. “The first being the addition of our second guitar player Zak (Carter), who handled a large portion of writing duties alongside our guitar player Jon (Kunz). Jon has always brought a more technical playing style to the table, while Zak brings more of a fast/thrashy vibe, so their two styles really combined into something pretty crazy.” Drummer Paul Chrismer valiantly puts his stamp on the album, as Haines continues, “He really pushed himself over the years to advance his playing in all aspects.”
There is an impressive list of guest performers on the new release which also contributes to its vigorousness. Derrick Vella (Tomb Mold) lays down surly bass tracks, Pig Destroyer’s JR Hayes, and Undeath’s Alex Jones spew brutal vocals, and Dave Suzuki (Churchburn, ex-Vital Remains) shreds a guitar lead on “Rotting Stone/D.M.T.” But there’s one guest in particular that Haines is exhilarated by: “The Steve Tucker (Morbid Angel) contribution to the album was one that we felt might be the hardest to secure, so you can imagine what we felt when his vocals hit our inbox for the first time. To know that this link between us and these legends of metal music will live on forever in this album is very cool for us.”
Infinite Psychic Depths is available on Outer Heaven’s Bandcamp. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram for future updates.
Photo courtesy of Scott Kinkade.
