Artist: Fleshgod Apocalypse
Title: Agony
Type: Album
Label: Nuclear Blast

Fleshgod Apocalypse are from Italy. This is their second album. The first thing which struck me about “Agony” was the track titles, which are to do with negative human behaviour and qualities – The Hypocrisy, The Deceit, The Betrayal and so on. Having listened to this album, it is clear that these matters were not going to be sorted out over a nice cup of tea.

Death Metal vocals meet triggering drums and frenetic orchestral madness. This description of “The Hypocrisy” covers the work as a whole. Creativity is mixed with total intensity and heightened emotions. An interesting feature of this album is the vocal arrangement. To supplement the Death vocals, a number of the chorus feature ethereal voice akin to that of Jon Anderson. As well as being like a rush of adrenaline, “Agony” is highly atmospheric. “The Imposition” has the all-enveloping style of Behemoth. The moments of Polishness are accompanied by visions and images of castles on hills, thunder and lightening, and spooky scenes. The mad violinist plays on amid the chaos. There’s more than a hint of Anorexia Nervosa and Carach Angren in the threatricality. The anarchy continues with “The Deceit”. Fast and furious as ever, there’s no let up. It takes your breath away. Then off we go again with “The Violation”. The orchestral element is strong. Flamboyant guitar work combines with orchestral metal madness. The piping voice continues to feature in the choruses. It’s eccentric but I’m getting the drift. We enter thunderously dark territory with “The Egoism”. This is pure Anorexian sanity and colour. Like an express train, the album remorselessly steams on. “The Betrayal” acts as a prelude to “The Forsaking” in which we enter new oddball territory. It’s a dark and deep piece of Death Metal, but still overwhelmingly excessive while featuring a suitably majestic twist. “The Oppression” features further indulgence, this time with wild guitar excursions. The air is of constant mayhem. To cap it all off, the album ends in suitably dark and melancholic pomp with a classical piano piece. Well, what else could we expect?

It may be dark but “Agony” is a breath of fresh air. The energy, the vocals, the freshness and the creativity of this breathless opus are to be wondered at. I like it.

http://www.myspace.com/fleshgodapocalypse

Andrew Doherty

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