Psycroptic

Psycroptic
Background information
Origin	Hobart, TAS
Genres	Death metal
Years active	1999 – present
Labels	Nuclear Blast, Neurotic, Unique Leader, Riot!, EVP
Associated acts	Ruins, M.S.I., Born Headless, Disseminate, Blood Duster, The Amenta, Astriaal, Spawn of Possession, Bolverk, Crisis Act, Domination Campaign, Abramelin, Abacinate, Werewolves, KING, Mephistopheles, Iciclan, Gangs of Old Ladies
Website	http://www.psycroptic.com
Members	Dave Haley Joe Haley Jason Peppiatt Todd Stern
Past members	Matthew Chalk Cameron Grant

Band Members

• Current Line-Up
  • Dave Haley (drums)
  • Joe Haley (bass)
  • Jason Peppiatt (vocals)
  • Todd Stern (bass)

• Former Members
  • Cameron Grant (bass) (1999 - 2018)
  • Matthew Chalk (vocals) (1999 - 2005)

Band Information

Now one of Australia's most prominent metal bands on the international touring circuit after a string of albums and European touring every year since 2004, Psycroptic was formed from the remains of Disseminate in Hobart in 1999.

The Isle of Disenchantment was made with assistance from a grant from the Tasmanian government and originally intended only as a demo. Psycroptic quickly began to find a following throughout Australia and featured at High Voltage and Metal for the Brain in 2001.

In 2003 the band completed their second album and signed to US death metal label Unique Leader. Psycroptic then toured Australia with Incantation in June. Psycroptic again appeared at Metal for the Brain that year. In July 2004 the band toured nationally with labelmates Deeds of Flesh and appeared at Sydney's Bloodlust Festival. Around the same time, Dave Haley began playing in Ruins. Late 2004 Psycroptic undertook a tour of Europe with Dismember and Anata without Chalk. Jason Peppiatt from Born Headless and M.S.I. stood in his place. The band then appeared at Metal for the Brain in Canberra and Brisbane in 2005. During this period, the Haley brothers also joined The Amenta.

Chalk was replaced by Peppiatt and the band toured with Hate Eternal. In April 2009 Chalk was announced as the new vocalist for Swedish death metal outfit Spawn of Possession. His first performance with the group took place at Sydney's Screamfest on December 31, 2009; he later left the group but continues with his other band Mephistopheles.

With the release of the third album, Psycroptic was now well established as one of Australia’s top metal acts and further European touring occurred in mid-2006. In early 2007, their European shows with Deicide were interrupted when Joe Haley suffered a seizure after the first show. Returning to Australia, the band toured nationally with Cannibal Corpse. Work began on the follow-up to Symbols of Failure in early 2007 and in June the band played at the Come Together festival in Sydney. In 2006, Dave recorded the drum tracks for Belgian band Aborted's Slaughter & Apparatus album and his work appears on the 2008 album Preaching Venom by Dubai band Nervecell. He replaced Matt Rizzo in Blood Duster in September 2007, shortly after he and Joe had departed The Amenta.

By early 2008 Psycroptic was working on album number four ahead of a tour through the US with Vader, Kataklysm and The Black Dahlia Murder. In late June 2008 it was announced that the band had signed with Nuclear Blast. Psycroptic's fourth album Ob(servant) was released on October 4, 2008. The band supported the release with a tour through every state and territory and shows in New Zealand. Following that, Psycroptic toured with Whitechapel and then went through Europe with Cephalic Carnage in January 2009. Psycroptic then toured the US with Carcass, Suffocation and Samael before another Australian tour in May and June with The Amenta and Ruins.

In October 2009 the band played an Indonesian tour with Arch Enemy and Burgerkill. Psycroptic's next Australian tour was with Decapitated, Origin and Misery Index in April 2010. The DVD Initiation was released in March 2010. During the year, Cameron Grant played bass with Astriaal for some shows. In the last half of 2010, Psycroptic performed in China and became the first western band to appear in the Inner Mongolian city of Hohhot. The band rounded out the year by touring the US with Nile. Recording began mid-February 2011 on a fifth album. Psycroptic headlined all of the Bastardfest events in September 2011. In February 2012, The Inherited Repression was released. The band did a European tour with Divine Heresy's Joe Payne on bass and Zdenek Simecek from Godless Truth on vocals standing in for Grant and Peppiatt who were unavailable. Psycroptic toured Australia with Nasum in August 2012. They appeared at two of the Bastardfest shows and two dates on the Cannibal Corpse tour in October. In 2013 they played at Hammersonic in Indonesia and during the middle of the year did an Australian tour with King Parrot.

During 2014 Psycroptic announced a new signing to Prosthetic Records for their new album and issued a charity single, Echoes to Come, to fund preservation efforts and research into Tasmanian Devils. Their self-titled sixth album was released in March 2015 and Psycroptic toured Australia with The Black Dahlia Murder. In the break between albums, Dave Haley joined the reformed Abramelin line up and has since also rejoined The Amenta.

In 2017 Psycroptic, King Parrot and Revocation toured nationally together under the Thrash, Blast, Grind banner and then in early 2018, Cameron Grant left Psycroptic after being with the band for 19 years. He was replaced by Todd Stern from the US death metal band Abacinate and his first album with them was As the Kingdom Drowns, released that November. In February 2019, Psycroptic toured Europe with Aversions Crown and then headlined a US tour. With further touring curtailed during the COVID pandemic, the band released a single-sided vinyl EP, The Watcher of All in late 2020. Joe and Dave collaborated with Youngy from King Parrot and Brett from Revocation on the grind band Crisis Act, and Joe and Jason released an album as Domination Campaign. Dave Haley also formed Werewolves with Matt from Abramelin and Sam from The Berzerker.

Psycroptic appeared at the Uncaged Festival in Melbourne in early 2022 and at Blacken Open Air mid-year. Divine Council featured vocal contributions by Jason Keyser of Origin and was released on August 22. Touring in North and South America followed.

Australia and US tours continued through 2023, with Psycroptic ending the year with an Australian tour with Obituary. The Amenta's Robin Stone replaced Dave Haley on that tour.

Discography

Albums:

2001	The Isle of Disenchantment	self release
2003	The Scepter of the Ancients	Unique Leader
2006	Symbols of Failure	Neurotic
2008	Ob(Servant)	Nuclear Blast
2012	The Inherited Repression	Riot!
2015	Psycroptic	EVP
2018	As the Kingdom Drowns	EVP
2022	Divine Council	EVP

Single:

2014	Echoes to Come	Prosthetic
2020	The Watcher of All	Prosthetic

VHS/DVD:

2010	Initiation	Stomp