Belgium-based progressive post-metal trio Psychonaut released their Violate Consensus Reality full-length on October 28 via Pelagic Records. on all streaming platforms. They have released an official video for the new single, "Hope".

One of the most personal and intimate songs the band has ever written, the trio collaborated with French dancer and longtime fan Alice Small, who fully choreographed the beautiful aerial dance video. "Hope" also features additional piano by Wouter Dewit and strings by Reinhard Vanbergen.

“We distance ourselves from a system that is based on the idea that humanity is fundamentally bad and needs protection from itself in the form of a hierarchy,” notes guitarist/vocalist Stefan De Graef of Psychonaut's latest album. “By no longer subscribing to the notion that we are all separate beings in a separate world that is dead and pointless, we embrace the vision of a new civilization that is rooted in the idea that we are part of a living, sacred universe.”

Likening our present state of separation to “an island on oceans grown, designed to bear unpredictable wrath,” the band accompanies their denunciation by punishing riffs and heavily syncopated rhythms, grabbing you by your guts and taking you on a turbulent journey. Violate Consensus Reality engages the senses in a way that is quite rare for concept albums, it is raw and brutal, unlike the lofty concept albums of yore with their endlessly repeating motifs and needlessly complex song structures. It stands in a long tradition of activism in music, but it also deconstructs this tradition by taking its loud and admonishing tone and providing it with a thoughtful base rooted in philosophy and spirituality.

Violate Consensus is not for the faint hearted, concept-wise but also music-wise as it contains some of the most gnarly riffs and technical playing on any Psychonaut output to date. The record constitutes a wild ride from the breakneck paced riffing of “A Pacifist’s Guide To Violence,” through the undulating neo-classical piano passages of “Hope” to the glorious finale of “Towards The Edge.” The mantric title track opens with the angelic voice of Stefanie Mannaerts (Brutus) and slowly builds up to erupt in an explosive sermon delivered by Colin H. van Eeckhout (Amenra, CHVE, Absent in Body), the appearance of both gifted musicians affirming Psychonaut’s stature in the Belgian metal scene and beyond.

Tracklist:

"A Storm Approaching"
"All Your Gods Have Gone"
"Age of Separation"
"Violate Consensus Reality"
"Hope"
"Interbeing"
"A Pacifist's Guide to Violence"
"Towards the Edge"

"Interbeing"

(Photo – Gert Stockmans)