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Cargo Records

Rating:

Apparently, one brilliant album in 2007 was not enough for Genesis Breyer P-Orridge. After an outstanding release w/ Throbbing Gristle, s/he decided that we also need a new Psychic TV release. Hell is Invisible... Heaven is Her/e, the first studio album since 1995's Trip Reset, is a powerful return for Psychic TV. The album, steeped in hyperdelia, is probably the most rock oriented Psychic TV album to date. Maybe in part due to the special guests on the album: Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), but it is mostly thanks to the great band that is PTV3.

From the album art to the title to the lyrical content the one constant on Hell is Invisible... Heaven is Her/e is Pandrogeny. Genesis P-Orridge and Lady Jaye started their Pandrogeny project a number of years ago. Molding and melding themselves through plastic surgery and other means, Gen and Lady Jaye created the Pandrogyne, whom they call Breyer P-Orridge. It is at once an art project, a social statement, a magickal act and the next step in evolution. Some of the most obvious songs discussing this are “In Thee Body” and “Hookah Chalice”, whose title alone conjures up the duality.

After a short sample the opening track, “Higher and Higher”, storms in with the pop and slap of a bassline that throws you off guard for a second. “Is this really a Psychic TV song?” you ask yourself. Then Gen's unmistakable voice begins questioning the endless violence in one of the best anti-war songs I have heard in a long time. “What the hell are we fighting for?” A simple question, but one that needs to be asked.

“Lies, And Then” crashes in through a fog of feedback and distortion. Like nearly every other song on Hell is Invisible... this song infectiously makes you want to dance with the hooky keyboards and clapping littering the chorus.

The, dare I say, “Sympathy for the Devil”-inspired “Maximum Swing” is a psychedelic number that Gen growls his way through. The beautiful “New York Story” follows with a heavy Velvet Underground influence worn on its sleeve, which works within the context of the song.

The hypnotic and sing-song “I Don't Think So” assaults the listener with a barrage of noise at the 1/3 mark. The multiple overlaid mantra of “You know that it's true, yes it's you” closes out the last couple minutes of the track to flow into the opening of “Hookah Chalice”, a hard rocking number replete with Genesis making chimp-like sounds while commanding you to suck on his chalice, baby.

After the psychedelic swing of “BB” the album ends with the hypnotic instrumental “Milk Baba”, a fitting piece to close with.

Musically this may be the strongest Psychic TV has ever been, and Gen's voice hasn't sounded so strong and full in a long time. While a lot of the influences on Hell is Invisible... Heaven is Her/e are nearly 40 years old, and Gen is obviously reworking bits from his earlier work lyrically and musically, PTV3 definitely gives everything a fresh feel.

Reviewed by: Tom Gilbert

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