I think that the ground should be shaking and erupting beneath my very feet at this time plummeting my setup into the Earth’s core and dissolving everything I’ve ever known into nothingness for I have found an aggrotech EP in 2025 that I enjoy. This is one of those “put your foot in your mouth moments” as I’ve had several rants and raves about how much I dislike MOST aggrotech releases with few exceptions. But I suppose it just takes someone like Psykkle to set the record straight and prove me wrong, doesn’t it? A rebirth, a new vision, a new sound, new production, all this makes for a damned good EP.
Hackerstate begins the EP with forlorn guitar strings that sound something straight out of a cinematic moment in a cyberpunk film; wheezing, breathing, something or the other echoes in the distance as more electronic notes sink in ramping up tension. All hopes for calm are shattered around the fifty-second mark when heavy industrial-metal guitars and kick-drums break through the barrier. Psykkle’s vocals reminisce the heavily distorted vox of past aggrotech releases but they aren’t watered down or poorly mixed. Gritty, sure, but never something that tarnishes the rest of the mix.
Dope Fiend begins off with menacing industrial beats that sound influenced from the likes of horror-rap and other such genres. Slight wobbles a la dubstep lead into a track that had me slowly bobbing my head to the beat. Intricately layered and never failing to entertain.
The final track on the album is perhaps what you’d most expect from an aggrotech EP; pounding four-on-the-floor beats meant to get the club dancing and moving and grooving. A few higher pitched synths thrown into the mix. While not my favorite song on the EP, it’s still thumping and this could easily fit in anyone’s workout mix.
Twelve years. Twelves years has been enough. Psykkle disappeared and was dormant and like some great beast awakening and rising from his grave has he returned with something great. Plans remain for Psykkle in the near future including an expanded edition of this EP and a full-length release. I’ll be tracking that to see if this momentum continues forth.
