The death metal veterans ramp up the atmosphere and intricacy. A full quarter-century after their debut album, Tasmanian five-piece Psycroptic achieve new levels of intensity and intricacy on their ninth one. It helps that Jason Keyser from the American band Origin has joined as second vocalist—starting with 2022’s Divine Council—to add a sharp counterpoint to Jason Peppiatt’s more guttural approach. Also key is the guiding hand of guitarist, producer, and primary songwriter Joe Haley, who ensures that the band’s dizzying riffing and structural complexity remains legible. That’s especially true of the many hairpin turns on “Gathering a Venomous Herd,” which are impressive even by the high standards of technical death metal. Instruments drop out and re-enter the mix to dramatic effect on opener “Ashes of a New Dawn,” which also employs some slower guitar chugging to offset such prodigious soloing. Haley has steadily deepened the band’s atmospheric presence, and The Pulse of Annihilation includes both grand synth motifs (“Forging the Crown”) and acoustic fingerpicking (“A Sword of Me”). Equally striking is Haley’s brother David, whose drumming becomes a veritable blur by the end of the latter track—and yet still feels like an integral element of the larger ensemble.