UN: How does it feel to be signed to one of the biggest metal labels in the world? It must have been quite an awesome time for the band when you initially found out the label was interested in the band.

Dave/drums: Yeah, it definitely feels like quite an accomplishment...it's a label that we have all been big fans of for quite some time, so the be finally signed to them is an excellent feeling. We were hard at work on the album when we got the offer from them, so it made all the work seem worthwhile. It was good knowing that the final product was going to be pushed and promoted, and no just end up being lost in the market. It has really re-lit the fire in the band, and we are excited with the possibilities.

UN: How long did the writing for the new album take? Its been two years since the last album and with how intense and in depth the songwriting is on the new album I would assume it took awhile to write and arrange the album.

Dave: We usually just continue writing songs after we finish an album we don't really have a set 'writing' period as such...but we did write this in a different manner, in which Joe wrote complete songs then gave us the music to them. We had never done this, and it worked really well as it gave things a fresh sound and vibe within the songs. We did have a lot of touring in the 2 years, so we kind of just plugged away til we have enough material we were happy with. The last half of 2007 we spent finalizing the material and getting ready to record.

UN: Can you explain the meaning behind the name of the album? What was it about the song of the same name that seemed to stand out enough for it to become the name of the album?

Dave: I did want to give the album a one word title, as the previous albums have had longer titles...and the longer titles I came up with for the album kind of sucked. I wanted something with impact, but still had a variety of meanings. Ob(servant) was the last set of lyrics I wrote for the album and I thought the double meaning was cool, so I suggested that to the others and they liked it. The actual song explores the idea of a being who can see everything that will happen in the future while at the same time forgetting the past...and is unable to do anything change anything that will happen. Thus observing all while still being a slave.

UN: While the album isnt officially out yet, how has the response been so far critically? Are there a lot of reviewers that understand what the band is trying to accomplish musically?

Dave: Yeah, all the reviews have been extremely positive...its been our best received album thus far. This album is really our strongest one to date, so its great to have the media behind it as much as they have been. I think this album is a lot more direct and as such doesnt take as many listens to fully understand...its kind of right there with the first listen. Its more streamlined and catchy. I cant wait to start playing these songs live.

UN: The band plays with an incredible amount of precision. I was curious to ask if you guys dial back the distortion at all to maintain that clarity. The riffs are undeniably heavy yet a bit clearer than most death metal bands.

Dave: We do use a lot of distortion, however Joe's guitar tone is very clean he goes to great effort to insure every note is heard and it isnt just a mess. We dont tune down really so the guitar is usually quite crisp and cutting. I guess this kind of sets us apart from a lot of other death metal bands out there. Many death metal bands focus on trying to be the heaviest band around, but we're not interested in that...its more about writing cool songs and intense music.

UN: The vocals are quite diverse on the new album. Is it important to have a vocal approach that matches the diverse nature of the music? The band certainly isnt a typical death metal band so a non-typical vocal approach only makes sense.

Dave: Yeah, we don't really have any rules when it comes to anything in our music...if we like it we'll use it. Vocally we gave Jason free reign to do what ever he liked on the album, and he worked exceptionally hard on the material. He demoed up all the material himself and worked out where to and where NOT to sing. Its very easy to sing all the time, all over the place, but he refined the vocals and sung where needed and gave songs room to breath where it was needed.

UN: How was the Summer Slaughter tour this summer? Was this the bands first time playing in the US? When the album is out in October will the band be touring again in the US?

Dave: The SS tour was the best tour we have ever done. It was crazy...we all loved touring the US; it was our first time there. We are planning to come back as soon as possible its just a matter of finding the best tour opportunity for us to get on. We hope to get back there in early to mid 2009. We wont leave it as long between tours now that we have Nuclear Blast on our side.

UN: Logan Mader handled the mixing of the new album. What brought about his name as a possible mixer for the album? Were you guys fans of the previous albums he had worked on? Although hes no longer in the band, are you guys Machine Head fans?

Dave:We had a few names in mind, and contacted a few different people to find out whether they would be interested. We talked with Logan - he was pretty much our number one choice - and it just worked out that he was free at the time we needed and he was interested. We liked the fact that his productions are quite heavy but are still very clean and crisp, something that is very important in our sound. It worked out very well, and he was really easy to work with. We were on tour during the mixing process and Logan sent us mixes while we were on the road...and we went back and forth until we were happy with the mix. In regards to Machine Head, Im a big fan of 'Burn my eyes' its an album that still sounds fresh and modern to this day, even though its almost 15 years old.

UN: I was curious to ask who did the artwork for the new album. It definitely has a classic death metal feel to it similar to early Swedish and classic Florida death metal album covers.

Dave: It was an artist by the name of Raymond Swanland - he works on the Oddworld video game series. I think its an amazing piece of art. When we work with artists, we give them pretty much free reign within a breif outline this is the best way to get the best work from people I believe. We sent lyrics to him, and gave him a general outline...well, more just an idea. The art we got back was amazing. I guess it does have a bit of an old school view, probably just because it is actually drawn not a photographic manipulation which is quite popular these days.

UN: I was surprised to read that the band was from Tasmania. Is there much of a scene for death metal in Tasmania? I would assume you guys play a lot in Australia.

Dave: There isn't really a big scene down here...the population is only about 450,000 people so its not that big a place. We're actually pretty much the most widely distributed Tasmanian act at the moment of any style...which is really cool for metal. We do play a fair bit in Australia, but we are trying to balance that out with touring overseas a lot more. In 2009 was plan to do quite a lot of international touring...both of the US and Europe.

UN: Is it humbling to be called the future of extreme music? I think Ob(servant) shows a fresh take on technical death metal and is a breath of fresh air amongst the copy cat bands around right now.

Dave: Thanks very much...it's cool to be recognized for trying to do something a little different. We do work very hard to create our own band and not fall into the trends that are around in the metal scene these days. A lot of bands are quite happy just to rip off their favourite bands or do what is popular, instead of trying to create something new. So if people think we are the future of extreme music thats excellent...it confirms we're doing something right.

UN: You guys utilize a lot of groove which is quite uncommon in death metal. Do you think the rhythmic side of the band is just as important as the high speed aspects?

Dave: Yeah totally. We want everything to groove and to be catchy...as thats what we like to hear in music. Psycroptic is a combination of all our interests rolled into one. We want to each riff to be very catchy and groove even if its a darker sounding riff. It can get quite hard to mix the 2 together sometimes, but Joe is an excellent song writer and he did a great job with the new album.

UN: One element common of technical death metal is guitar leads which are altogether missing from the new album. Was it just a case of not wanting to put any guitar leads in or did you feel that the songs really just didnt need them? With the sweep picking craze right now Im becoming a bit sick of hearing the same style leads in every band almost.

Dave: We don't do guitar leads as it would take away from the intensity of the music...and it's not about showing off how good a guitarist Joe is. In reality, he is one of the best metal guitarists out there, as he is highly trained in all schools of music. We could chuck sweep picking everywhere, and solos in every song that 'shred'...but that would just be following what is popular at the moment. Trends come and go all the time we'd rather just do our own thing. We're not opposed to adding in different melodic parts to achieve a certain result, but we don't feel the need to put solos in every song.

http://www.myspace.com/psycroptic