As summer winds down, there is no shortage of great live music playing in the area. We are just moving the party to the Empire Underground. I got to chat with Brian Manteum from the band Psychomanteum about the band’s record release party on Friday October 17th at Empire Underground. We talk about the beginning of the band and where to hear their stuff.
Who is the best band or artist you’ve seen live?
Brian Manteum: Opeth, hands down. I saw them on their Ghost Reveries 10th anniversary tour. They were absolutely flawless.
How long have you been playing together; and how did Psychomanteum get started?
Brian Manteum: Pete (drummer) and I started this band in August of 2017. The initial idea was to do an EP and have guest singers that we’ve worked with in the past, from the Capital Region. As you can imagine, working with multiple singers soon became…challenging lol. Eventually we had two singers but one left. We had a couple of different members, but the three of us have been a tight unit since 2021.
Who are your influences as a band? What kind of music do you listen to when you’re not playing your own stuff?
Brian Manteum: We all listen to a variety of music, ranging from Jazz, Classical, to Thrash, Mathcore, Metalcore, Doom, etc. Some examples include Converge, Living Colour, The Mars Volta, Pat Metheny, Aphex Twin, Car Bomb, Opeth, and old Genesis (Peter Gabriel era), old Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Pantera, etc.
You’ve got a big couple of months coming up with the album release party October 17th at Empire Underground. What can you tell us about the new album and what else is on your plate?
Brian Manteum: I think this is the best music we have ever done. I know everyone says that, but we stepped up the songwriting, musicianship. I learned a lot about production since the last album.
It’s an eclectic mix of styles, but that’s us. I don’t think anyone has released anything quite like this in the Albany area.
For the CD release, we’re psyched to be sharing the stage with some of the 518’s best, including Concrete, Tyranize and Unbound. Malignancy is headlining, which will be amazing on its own. A big thanks to Mike Valente who hooked us up for this and provided a lot of good advice. We will be playing a cover, for the first time as a band, so we’re looking forward to that.The first song release is at the end of September, ahead of the show. We will begin taking CD pre-orders starting September 1.
Psychomanteum is a 3 piece band, yet you pull off a thick,full sound on Full Fathom Five. Does that sound transfer over live?
Brian Manteum: It’s a challenge, for sure. We trigger samples, but don’t use backing tracks or play to a click. We’ve had to figure out how to leverage effects and technology to fill things out. Having two people sing helps a lot. We always get positive comments about our live sound, and the videos I’ve seen of Full Fathom Five seems to confirm this.
If you’re introducing someone to Psychomanteum, Which direction do you point them?
Brian Manteum: Worms of Empire and Mortal Extremis are some of our earliest songs. Vessels was the last song we wrote on the first album, so that is probably a little closer to where we are now. I’d say, check out the entire first album…and preorder the new one. If you liked the first one I think you’ll love this one.
Where can people follow Psychomanteum? Give me all the socials and where people can hear your stuff.
We’re on all the streaming services, Spotify, Apple Music, Google Music, Youtube, etc.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/51I24oNl1TojshDhgesFAM
https://music.apple.com/us/album/full-fathom-five/1666335687
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=-BcomN9CVfI&si=deTSKhP5PTcNF9wI
If you want to help us out you can always buy a song or the album on our bandcamp: https://psychomanteum518.bandcamp.com/album/full-fathom-five
