Psycho Surgery
| Psycho Surgery | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Tourniquet | ||||
| Released | 1991 | |||
| Genre | Christian metal, thrash metal, speed metal | |||
| Length |
41:03 (1991) 63:43 (2001) |
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| Label |
Intense Records Metal Blade |
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| Producer | Bill Metoyer | |||
| Tourniquet chronology | ||||
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| 2001 cover | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Chicago Tribune |    |
| Cross Rhythms |  |
| Imperiumi.net |
 (Classic status) |
| Powermetal.de | (Classic status) |
| Powermetal.de (Review of re-release) | (Highly favorable) |
Psycho Surgery was the second album by the Christian metal band Tourniquet, released in 1991. Out of all the band's first three albums, critics consider Psycho Surgery Tourniquet's most balanced album. In 2010, Heaven's Metal fanzine ranked it the second best Christian metal album of all time (after Vengeance Rising's Human Sacrifice). The album was independently rereleased in 2001 with digital remastering, bonus tracks and new cover art. The rerelease is now titled "Psychosurgery" as one word instead of two since Ted Kirkpatrick always felt that it should have been just one.
Psycho Surgery was recorded at Mixing Lab A & B studios, Garden Grove, California, and was produced by Bill Metoyer. For this album the band was joined by the guitarist Erik Mendez and the bassist Victor Macias, forming the quintet that is known as Tourniquet's classic line up. After Stop the Bleeding, the band caught the attention of Metal Blade Records, which released this album to the secular market. Intense Records released it to the Christian market.
Psycho Surgery represents the band's more modern and experimental, technical thrash metal style. Vocalist Guy Ritter left his high-pitched falsetto vocals off, singing mostly in his melodic baritone voice, and the elements of 1980s speed metal are nonexistent on this album. Psycho Surgery is characterized by the incorporation of classical music into the guitar riffs: a reviewer described the album as "Slayer plays Beethoven in a slightly rearranged way." The title song begins with a sample of an orchestra warming up for its performance. Psycho Surgery contains technical playing techniques, plenty of different guitar riffs and tempo changes and virtuoisic solos. The album's production is clear, creating a somewhat cold and steril atmosphere that supports the album's medical concept. Drummer Ted Kirkpatrick has a background in pharmacy, and took advantage of this experience by infusing the lyrics with medical terminology as metaphors for social issues. The lyrics take a stance on topics such as discrimination of the developmentally delayed ("Broken Chromosomes"), heretical sects ("A Dog's Breakfast") and parental carelessness ("Dysfunctional Domicile"). The song "Stereotaxic Atrocities" is a sequel to the song on the previous album, "Ark of Suffering", as it also criticizes animal abuse, specifically animal laboratory testing. The same guitar riff appears on the song for a few seconds.
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