Psycho Surgery | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 1, 1991 | |||
Studio | Mixing Lab A & B in Garden Grove, California | |||
Genre | Christian metal, thrash metal, speed metal | |||
Length | 40:53 (1991) 63:27 (2001) 58:50 (2020) | |||
Label | Intense Records | |||
Producer | Bill Metoyer Tourniquet | |||
Tourniquet chronology | ||||
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2001 cover | ||||
Psycho Surgery is the second studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was originally released on Intense Records and Metal Blade Records in 1991. A remastered version was released on Pathogenic Records in 2001 as Psychosurgery and includes revised artwork, an expanded album booklet, and bonus tracks that include live versions of songs featuring then-lead vocalist Luke Easter as well as demos; the title was changed since co-founder and drummer Ted Kirkpatrick always felt that it should have been just one. Retroactive Records released a Collector's Edition remaster on June 26, 2020, retaining the original album title and including an extended booklet as well as different bonus tracks. Considered by critics to be Tourniquet's most balanced of the band's first three albums, [1] Heaven's Metal fanzine ranked Psycho Surgery Christian metal's second-best album of all time (after Vengeance Rising's 1988 debut album Human Sacrifice ). [2]
Produced by Metal Blade Records' Bill Metoyer, Tourniquet recorded Psycho Surgery at Mixing Lab A & B studio in Garden Grove, California. Guitarist Erik Mendez and the bassist Victor Macias joined Tourniquet for this album, forming the quintet known as Tourniquet's classic line-up. [1] After the release of Stop the Bleeding in 1990, the band caught Metal Blade Records' attention. Metal Blade Records released Psycho Surgery to the secular market, leaving the Christian market to original label Intense Records. The album cover is a reference to Romans 12:2. [3]
Psycho Surgery represented a more modern, experimental, and technical thrash-metal style, leaving behind the previous album's speed metal elements and incorporating classical music-influenced guitar riffs, complex tempo changes, and virtuosic guitar solos. One reviewer described the album as "Slayer plays Beethoven in a slightly rearranged way." [1] Vocalist Guy Ritter also abandoned his King Diamond-like high-pitched falsetto in favor of a more melodic baritone register.
The album's crisp production creates a somewhat clinical and sterile atmosphere that serves to undergird the album's medical themes. Using his pharmaceutical background, drummer Ted Kirkpatrick infused the lyrics with medical terminology to serve as metaphors for particular social issues such as heretical sects ("A Dog's Breakfast") which also included a jab at three teachers in the Word of Faith Movement (Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, and Kenneth Hagin), discrimination of the developmentally delayed ("Broken Chromosomes"), and parental neglect ("Dysfunctional Domicile"). The song "Stereotaxic Atrocities," a sequel to the previous album's "Ark of Suffering," features a brief reprise of the original's signature guitar riff and criticizes laboratory testing of animals. [1] A re-recorded version of "Stereotaxic Atrocities" appeared on the album Onward to Freedom in 2014 and featured Marty Friedman of Megadeth on guitar and Luke Easter on vocals, with an instrumental version later appearing on Onward to Freedom: Voiceless in 2016.
Taking advantage of rap metal's new popularity, the album's popular song "Spineless" featured the vocal and sampling contributions of Christian hip-hop group Preachers in Disguise (P.I.D.). Although Kirkpatrick wrote most of the song's lyrics prior to entering the studio, P.I.D.'s Fred "Doug Tray" Lynch and Barry "G" Hogan crafted their own lyrical contributions on the spot. [4] The fast-moving instrumental "Viento Borrascoso (Devastating Wind)" features Kirkpatrick's virtuosic drumming. The album's final song, "Officium Defunctorum," is a doom metal piece written by guitarist/vocalist Gary Lenaire that addresses Jesus Christ's crucifixion. [1]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Chicago Tribune | [5] |
Cross Rhythms | [6] |
Imperiumi.net | (Classic status) [1] |
Powermetal.de | (Classic status) [7] |
Powermetal.de (Review of re-release) | (Highly favorable) [8] |
Metal Blade Records' wide distribution of Psycho Surgery increased Tourniquet's exposure and popularity. Following the album's release, the songs "Psycho Surgery," "Spineless," and "Viento Borrascoso" all achieved number-one positions on several charts, and readers of HM Magazine voted Psycho Surgery their "Favorite Album of the Year" in 1991. In 1992, Psycho Surgery also achieved two GMA Dove Award nominations in the categories Metal Album of the Year and Metal Recorded Song of the Year ("Psycho Surgery"). Critics consider the album a display of talented musicianship, intelligent lyrics, and originality. [1] In August 2010, HM Magazine ranked Psycho Surgery #18 on its list of Top 100 Christian Rock Albums of All Time [9] and the #2 album on its list of Top 100 Christian Metal Albums of All Time. In an interview with Noisecreep about the list, HM Magazine editor Doug Van Pelt explained that Psycho Surgery "found this band playing as a five-member band for the first time and they really bent creativity in metal in new directions that have still not been matched. Nobody has ever sounded like this band. I mean, Between the Buried and Me and maybe System of a Down are the closest in stretching creative boundaries. You almost had to pull out a medical dictionary to understand their [Tourniquet's] lyrics. Standout song would have to be the epic 'Broken Chromosomes,' which is a touching song about mistreated kids that are mentally handicapped. Chilling song." [2]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Psycho Surgery" | Ted Kirkpatrick | Kirkpatrick | 4:13 |
2. | "A Dog's Breakfast" | Guy Ritter | Gary Lenaire | 4:27 |
3. | "Viento Borrascoso (Devastating Wind)" (Instrumental) | Kirkpatrick | 3:05 | |
4. | "Vitals Fading" | Kirkpatrick | Kirkpatrick | 2:46 |
5. | "Spineless" (featuring P.I.D.) |
| Kirkpatrick | 5:11 |
6. | "Dysfunctional Domicile" | Lenaire | Lenaire | 5:02 |
7. | "Broken Chromosomes" | Ritter | Ritter | 5:21 |
8. | "Stereotaxic Atrocities" | Kirkpatrick | Kirkpatrick | 4:22 |
9. | "Officium Defunctorum" | Lenaire |
| 6:26 |
Total length: | 40:53 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
10. | "A Dog's Breakfast (Live 2000)" | 5:34 |
11. | "Broken Chromosomes (Live 2000)" | 6:56 |
12. | "Stereotaxic Atrocities (Demo 1991)" | 4:27 |
13. | "A Dog's Breakfast (Demo 1991)" | 4:38 |
14. | "Concert Intro (Live 2000)" | 0:59 |
Total length: | 63:27 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
10. | "Psycho Surgery (Demo)" | 3:54 |
11. | "Vitals Fading (Demo)" | 2:37 |
12. | "Broken Chromosomes (Live 1992)" | 6:34 |
13. | "Spineless (Live 1992)" | 4:52 |
Total length: | 58:50 |
Tourniquet
Additional musicians
Demo recordings
Live recordings (2001 remaster)
| Production
Additional personnel
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Tourniquet was an American Christian metal band that formed in Los Angeles in 1990. It was founded by Ted Kirkpatrick, Guy Ritter, and Gary Lenaire. Tourniquet primarily played a mixture of thrash and progressive metal and was influenced by additional, non-rock forms of music such as classical and world music. The band earned six GMA Dove Award nominations and won multiple recognitions from the readers of HM Magazine, including "Favorite Band of the 1990s" and "Favorite Album of the 1990s" for Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance (1992). They released ten studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, one EP, and several video releases. The last Tourniquet lineup consisted of Ted Kirkpatrick (drums) and Aaron Guerra. The band disbanded after Kirkpatrick's death in 2022.
Stop the Bleeding is the debut studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was originally released on Intense Records in 1990. A remastered version was released independently on Pathogenic Records in 2001, which was later re-released in 2011. Retroactive Records released a Collector's Edition remaster on June 26, 2020. The remasters include updated artwork, expanded album booklets, and bonus tracks.
Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance is the third studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was originally released on Intense Records in 1992 to the Christian market and later released on Metal Blade Records in 1993 to the secular market. It is the last Tourniquet album to feature vocalist Guy Ritter, who left the band after the recording of the album. It was independently re-released on Pathogenic Records in 2001 with digital remastering, two bonus live tracks from the 2000 Dutch Flevo Festival featuring then-lead vocalist Luke Easter, and new cover art. Retroactive Records released a Collector's Edition remaster on June 26, 2020 with the original cover art, an expanded album booklet, and four different bonus tracks. Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance was voted as the "Favorite Album of the 1990s" by readers of HM Magazine. In 2010, HM Magazine ranked it #23 on the Top 100 Christian metal albums of all-time list.
Intense Live Series, Vol. 2 is the first live album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was released on Intense Records in February 1993. It contains live recordings of material from the band's previous three studio albums, Stop the Bleeding (1990), Psycho Surgery (1991), and Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance (1992), as well as covers of "The Tempter" from Trouble's Psalm 9 album and "The Messiah" from Bloodgood's Detonation album. Les Carlsen, Bloodgood's vocalist, was a special guest vocalist since Tourniquet vocalist Guy Ritter departed from the band prior to the recording of this album. Victor Macias, Gary Lenaire, and Erik Mendez also perform vocals. Session notes by Terry Taylor, the album's executive producer, and a biography of Tourniquet are included in the booklet. Intense Live Series, Vol. 2 was later included as part of the Intense Live Series compilation, which also contained Vol. 1 by Deliverance and Vol. 4 by Die Happy, and released on KMG Records in 1998.
Vanishing Lessons is the fourth studio album by the American Christian metal band Tourniquet. It was originally released on Intense Records in 1994. It was the first Tourniquet album to feature then-lead vocalist Luke Easter, who joined the band in 1993. The songs "Bearing Gruesome Cargo," "Acid Head" and "K517" were included on the Tourniquet/Mortification Collector's Edition CD Single in 1994; the disc also featured tracks with Ted Kirkpatrick talking about Tourniquet and included material from the Australian Christian metal band Mortification's Live Planetarium and Blood World releases. A different version of "My Promise" was included on Tourniquet's extended play Carry the Wounded, and a music video for "Bearing Gruesome Cargo" was included on the band's VHS tape Pushin' Broom in 1995. This album was later bundled with 1992's Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance and released on KMG Records in 2000. Vanishing Lessons was independently re-released on Pathogenic Records with digital remastering, bonus tracks, and new artwork in 2004.
Gary Lenaire is an American musician who primarily performs thrash metal and speed metal. Lenaire is best known for his work in Tourniquet, though later he began to work for BOSS amps and interviewed musicians, including Steve Vai, Marty Friedman, John 5, and Rudy Sarzo. Lenaire was nominated for six GMA Awards, and received Heaven's Metal Magazine's "guitarist of the year" award between 1994 and 1996.
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