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The Agonist: Lullabies for the dormant mind

30/09/10 || Lord K Philipson

Yeah, I know – we already have this album reviewed here at GD. Ex-staffer Euthanatos covered it quite some time ago. But since I rule this place and have been on a The Agonist run the past months I just need to write a little something about it as well. Fear not though – Euth’s review will still be attached at the bottom in all its glory. The Agonist deserve the double-coverage.

I usually do not give a shit about already dissected albums in our reviews section, no matter how much I really would like to cover them myself, but in The Agonist’s case I’ll make an exception simply becoz this record is fucken majestic in its clinical appraoch. Weird thing is, I wasn’t the least impressed the first time I heard these guys and gal in some Audio Autopsy way back. I most definitely didn’t give them a close enough listen. That, or I was fucken stone deaf and piss drunk – devoting all my time to Blümchen instead. There is a possibility I was absolutely delusional as well. All of these things at the same time, most likely. Either way – I was fucken wrong by not paying attention to them. Find it in your hearts to forgive me. I should be ashamed. Bad, bad me.

What we are dealing with here is a bunch of extremely talented musicians going all wankery on us on their instruments, but they do so in a manner that reeks of know-how and whatnot. It’s so catchy, so flawlessly executed (not to mention Pro-Tooled) and so full of groove I am gasping for air at times. And to top it off, they have this chick sporting a great voice, giving The Agonist the exact ingredient they need to make them differ enough from the rest of the hideous whatever-core bands out there. Alissa White-Gluz has quickly risen to be one of my fave gals in metal, and believe it or not – it has nothing to do with her looks (she sure is purdy though, make no mistake about that). During the course of this album we get treated with great fucken (chick)growls, amazingly awesome clean vocals and some real neat half-operatic ones in the tune “Swan lake”. And she pulls them off like a real pro. I am immensely impressed.

But The Agonist wouldn’t be much to give a shit about had they not had the rhythm-section. Alissa’s vocals alone wouldn’t make this band as fucken great as they are (they would be a hella lot more uninteresting if she was not in there though, that’s for fucken sure), so it’s just a sight for sore… ears (?) to hear what backs her up music wise.

Despite the quite soulless and super clean production (which I take a liking in for some disgusting reason) there are excellent riffs, ace melodies and enough groove to make countries go bankrupt. I don’t even know what that means. The bass is too low though, as always. I can just imagine how awesome The Agonist would be with a great fucken production that holds a huge amount of PUNCH. I’m not sure my neighbors would survive it. Despite the obvious lack of King Kong’s penis in the mentioned production, this shit is excellent on all accounts and it’s one of the very few albums that have impressed the fuck out of me lately.

After hearing “Lullabies for the dormant mind” (love the fucken cover as well – some artsy fartsy crap right there, miraculously working very well) I went and checked out their debut, “Only once imagined”. I was not impressed. This reminds me of the fact that I didn’t particularly like the album at hand either when I first heard it, so… Time to go back and see if there is a possibility I have fucked up twice when it comes to The Agonist. Please, let it not be so. Then again, please let it be so – that would mean I have another excellent disc to devour.

I don’t know what drugs they took between albums but if they continue to be this awesome on the next album there is a chance my cock will explode.

I absolutely love this shit.

8,5

Ex-staffer Euthanatos says:

So we, the never-tiring, never-stop-working staff here at GD were discussing one of our next lists, top ten hottest chicks in metal or something of that sort, and as we were mentioning names, I remembered to throw in Alissa White-Gluz, who I’ve always thought of as a major babe. The funny thing was, I had never actually listened to The Agonist, had no idea what they played or even what Alissa did in the band, for that matter. She could be the drummer for all I knew, but she’s actually the vocalist. So, I decided it would only be fair to check the stuff out, although I was already hesitant when Wikipedia described them as metalcore. Anyway, I plowed through my restrictions and got “Lullabies for the Dormant Mind” and gave it a listen.

Now, remember how I’m always bitching that the metalcore scene became stale faster than cake left in the open? In the Southern Hemisphere, I mean, in the North, stuff just freezes to shit, I know. Anyway, remember that? How I’m always saying everyone sounds the same? Well, I’m glad I listened to The Agonist, because these guys (and gal), surely have a righteously original sound, a real breath of fresh air, as played out as that expression is, in the marasmus that is metalcore.

Now, I haven’t listened to their debut, so I’ll only be able to analyze this baby right here. Man, it rocks, there’s no denying it, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose a fuckload of brownie points in the kvlt tr00 metal elite. Fuck it, I don’t care, I never catered to them anyway. May you all die of cancer while you listen to cassette tapes.

True, though, that 80% (or more) of The Agonist’s appeal is Alissa. And no, not because she’s a hot chick, but because this tiny female makes me feel ten times less manly when I listen to hear scream. And fuck me, is she versatile! She gives a myriad of shrieks and howls, plus her clean singing is surely among the best in the business. Seriously, how is this band not more famous? Even among the mallrat crowd, I don’t see much hullabaloo about them, and fuck, they deserve it! I’m telling you, there are very, very feel people that sing like Alissa out there; she’s got the complete works. If you have any lingering doubts, just listen to her version of “Opus 20”, from Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake”.

What about the songs in themselves? Well, the rest of the band is tight as a 10 year old’s vagina, and the songwriting is, fortunately, pretty solid. I like a lot of the variations these guys give to the metalcore basics, going from After Forever like atmospheres to plain straight Bleeding Through hardcore. Somewhere in between there’s a little Arch Enemy.

That, ladies and gentlemen, leaves us with a very captivating album that has elements to please a very large crowd. Again, how this band isn’t more “out there” is just beyond me. Is this recommended to your average metal fan, though? No, not at all. Most people are too close minded to admit liking something like this. It’s too hip, has to much of a modern flavor to even be considered decent music.

But, if you’re like me, and simply don’t give a fuck, enjoying Depeche Mode as much as you get a hard on for Cannibal Corpse, why, this might just rock your world! It certainly stroked my balls. Very, very smoothly.

The cover: I admit I’m as much confused as I am mesmerized by this cover. It’s some sort of man, presumably a preacher of some sort, turning into crows that fly unto the moon. Whut?

7,5

Information
Released: 2009
Label: Century Media Records
Website: The Agonist MySpace
Band
Alissa White-Gluz: vocals
Danny Marino: guitars
Chris Kells: bass, backing vocals
Simon McKay: drums

Tracklist
01. The Tempest (The Siren’s Song; The Banshee’s Cry)
02. …And Their Eulogies Sang Me to Sleep
03. Thank You, Pain
04. Birds Elope With the Sun
05. Waiting Out the Winter
06. Martyr Art
07. Globus Hystericus
08. Swan Lake (A Cappella)
09. The Sentient
10. When the Bough Breaks
11. Chlorpromazine

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