Five Albums That Changed My Life: Joe Haley of Psycroptic

Tasmanian technical death metal maestros Psycroptic just released The Inherited
Repression, their fifth studio album. Where many of their peers in the tech-metal
community sacrifice good, old-fashioned songwriting smarts to frenzied arrangement
patterns, Psycroptic never let the guitar and drum acrobatics get in the way of the actual
songs.
The Inherited Repression is quite different from anything we have done in terms of
songwriting and structure, and we spent a lot longer writing and demoing the songs
before we recorded it, which you can tell. Its a very dynamic album the fast elements
faster, the slow elements slower, and a lot of light and dark binding it together, says
Psycroptic guitarist/producer Joe Haley.
With the new album in stores, Noisecreep asked Haley to take part in our Five Albums
That Changed My Life series.
Superunknown, Soundgarden (1994)
Closely followed by their previous album, Badmotorfinger, Superunknown is my
favorite album of all time. I remember buying this one on cassette and listening to it until
the tape was raw. The use of unconventional timing and riffs can usually create a lot less
groove in a lot of cases but this album really pulls it off. If anything it makes a lot of the
songs more groovy and memorable. The overall sound of this album I absolutely love. It
has so many production flaws and hiccups (vocal peaking, guitar and amp noise, etc.)
which give the music so much character. The album would not be the same without it.
A true testament to how pushing the limits with analogue recording can really give
feeling to an album. And how much better a real, raw drum kit can sound. Also, before I
heard this album I was never really that much into vocals pretty much just the music
side of things. But Chris Cornells vocals on this are so amazing and unique and add so
much intensity to the music that I was immediately blown away. They continue to be my
favorite band of all time and this album in particular I will never get enough of.
And Justice for All, Metallica (1988)
In my opinion, this is Metallica at their best. The riffing on this album is by far some of
my favorite thrash riffs of all time tight, precise, razor riffing mixed with a perfect
blend of melodic harmony. This album pretty much spawned my love of the down strokes
in fast guitar riffs and subsequently changed my style to cater for this sound. This is also
one of the few albums that Ive heard that have such epic songs (5-9 minutes long) and
still you never get bored of the songs. A great album and i still love listening to it every
time.
Accelerated Evolution, Devin Townsend Project (2003)
This album blew me away as soon as I heard it. Not only in a musical sense, but also
from a production angle. Even though the entire album is sweet and melodic, it also
manages to assault the senses with a wall of brutality. This creates a huge sense of
atmosphere. Most of Devins works are produced the same way, and Im a fan of all of
them, but this one stands out as the most memorable. Theres not a single song on it that
Id skip when listening to it, as the flow of the whole album is perfect. Every time I listen

to this album I lose myself in the hugeness and atmosphere of the sound.
Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven, Pantera (1992, 1994)
These albums were pretty much what made me realize that a band could be just as heavy
and dominating without the need for a second guitarist. Always believing beforehand that
a metal band needed a lead and a rhythm guitar section to have a full and complete
sound, these two albums totally opened my eyes to the possibilities of what could be
achieved with a single guitar, combining both into one guitar part.
This changed me as guitar player as when it came to writing, here was proof that it could
be done well right there on these two albums. Other than that, they also demonstrated that
simplicity and almost pop-like structuring is a key factor in making even heavy metal
music catchy to the average listener. I think this was one of the big reasons of their
success. Some of the riffs on these two albums are the simplest riffs yet anyone that is
into metal can sing a riff or two off of them.
1984, Van Halen (1984)
The reason this album changed my life is mainly because of the fact that it got me
interested in guitar playing in the first place. The guitar playing of Van Halen was so
revolutionary at the time and there isnt a guitarist around that cant say that they arent
influenced by Eddie. Once again, great use of a single guitar especially on this album
compared to their others. Theres not a single second on this album where you miss a
second guitar player. Obviously the lead guitar work is great, but I also think that Eddies
rhythm work is something that is overlooked sometimes. His rhythm on this album is
amazing and you find at times that youre glad that there isnt a second guitar player to
cloud his phenomenal work.