Psyche - Unveiling The Secret

Combining synth pop and goth rock, Canada's Psyche built a solid fan base in Europe and a cult following in the rest of the world with their marriage of drama and melody. Initially surfacing as a minimal synth act with a bizarre, confrontational stage show, their work gradually became more pop-minded while maintaining a dark, brooding atmosphere. As one of Canada’s very first electronic bands, Psyche began in 1982 in Edmonton, Alberta, with brothers Darrin and Stephen Huss (or Evan Panic and Anthony Red as they liked to be called at the beginning) combining their love of horror, electronic music, and punk's D.I.Y. attitude. During their earliest days, Dwayne Goettel, who left the band shortly after and joined Skinny Puppy in 1986 contributed keyboards to the group.

Unsurprisingly for a band that was named after the Killing Joke song “Pssyche”, early demos got them an opening slot on Alien Sex Fiend's tour of Europe in 1984. French label New Rose approached the trio for an album, and Psyche delivered the self-produced Insomnia Theatre, released in 1985. Good reviews in the European press and an opening slot for Suicide set the band up for the successful follow-up, Unveiling The Secret, which included two standout tracks that would become goth-club monsters: "Prisoner to Desire" and the title track.

Released 35 years ago on the great New Rose label in Europe and C’est La Mort in North America, Psyche's Unveiling The Secret is in many ways the quintessential underground 80s synthpop achievement. Lauded by fans and praised by generations of musicians including Sven Vath, Joris Voorn, and Eskil Simonsson (Covenant), the album's title track has attained that rare status of an enduring cult classic. And if that is all that this album had going for it, that would be saying much. But there is so much more: tracks like The Saint Became A Lush, equally a powerful dance classic itself, appeared on Trevor Jackson's famous Metal Dance series, and Prisoner to Desire, which remix producer Joseph Watt of Razormaid fame claimed was "darker tougher synth pop than Erasure" is as good as the genre gets.

It's no wonder that this record of all Psyche's records is consistently said to be their greatest. It is on this record that Darrin Huss really perfected his vocal style and range. Every composition on Unveiling The Secret is a keeper. It's one of those albums that blows you away anew each time, and yet feels like a new album no matter the passing decade.

Ripped here from the 1986 C’est La Mort release by Nothin' Sez Somethin' to MP3 but only included because it was reissued with bonus tracks and the usual bumff on Artoffact records in 2016

A1.  Thundershowers

A2.  Caught In The Act

A3.  Lord Unleashed

A4.  Prison To Desire

B1.   The Saint Became A Lush

B2.   Black Panther

B3.   Taking Chances

B4.   Unveiling The Secret