Fleshgod Apocalypse - Agony [2011]

As many have noted, symphonic death metal is a serious thing now. Yeah, that happened. Septicflesh completely annihilated with The Great Mass this year, as you should already know, but that's not the only band radically orchestrating their music. Fleshgod Apocalypse have translated their technical brutal death metal into a full symphonic opera of rather epic proportions. Just about every second here is accompanied by orchestration of some kind, so if you're averse to that kind of stuff in your music, you might as well stop reading and forget about this one. I think the main thing people were wondering about Agony was whether it would suffer riff-wise because of all the extra keyboard baggage. I'm only slightly familiar with Fleshgod's past work, and the answer isn't so simple, though I can definitely tell you they've simplified (and muted) the guitar parts considerably.

The success of Agony varies somewhat track for track, but if asked me if it was a good album, I'd concede that yes, it generally is. The songs that work the best and are most memorable usually play out in about the same fashion (see "The Hypocrisy," "The Deceit," "The Violation," and "The Oppression"): first you have an extremely fast verse with simple riffs, and then the song slows down a little for the chorus when some of the most painfully sung, strained yet high-pitched vocals you've ever heard come in. They're a huge acquired taste, but those cleans are certainly my favorite thing about this release. Now, the songs that divert from this predictable but still entertaining route can be hit or miss. "The Imposition" and "The Betrayal" pass by with little notice, two songs that never distinguish themselves from the rest of the surgical onslaught.

When the band actually slows down long enough to show you they can write a great death metal song, however, they really stun. "The Forsaking" is a well spun tale of surprisingly delayed gratification, and features some of the best orchestral use on the album. "The Egoist" is my hands down favorite, a mystical ride of wonder with some memorable keys to spare. Of the super speedy ones, I favor "The Violation," which was the video song for a reason, really being the only track to actually add catchiness with the symphony. The closing title-track outro ain't too shabby either. Many fans will miss the jaw-dropping technicality of Oracles and loathe the full orchestra assault of Agony, but little of Fleshgod Apocalypse's methods or set-to-kill mentality has changed. Sometimes I find myself drifting away during the fast, over the top parts waiting for the relief of melody to finally come, but for what this band does, Agony is a minor success.

   Overall: 7/10 (Good)