Agoraphobic Nosebleed
Agorapocalypse

The Agoraphobic Nosebleed resurface, among the few valid entities in an often monotonous and incoherent world, such as Grind & surroundings. They do so with "Agorapocalypse", released by the equally commendable Relapse, a label always attentive to experimentation, previously the publisher of that small gem known as "Zombie Aesthetics" (Vverevvolf Grehv, 2008), which we have already discussed!

Is it the usual sonic carnage then? Not quite. Besides the evident and drastic decrease in the number of tracks, (only 13 this time), there are several novelties introduced by Hull & the team in this new effort.

First of all, a welcome new entry among the 3 screamers, which is the blonde and energetic Katherine Katz, who in terms of scream and power outshines certain ridiculous guttural-bestial-brutal-norwegian-depressive-filtered growlers, (listen to the devastating "Moral Distortion" to believe). Secondly, the lyrics: leaving behind the splatter-porn-drug-nonsensical antics of times past, (though admittedly, a "Grandmother With Aids" had its dirty appeal), now social themes prevail. Finally, the most noticeable change concerns the musical side of Scott's creation: this time the cybergrind component is diminished, there will be less room for the noisy experiments, a true trademark of the quartet, (alas a shame), so less noise, fewer glitchy assaults, fewer deviant samples, (the use of the drum machine to replace the drums still stays). Paradoxically, considering the band's nature, both speed and -with due proportions, we are still talking about Agoraphobic Nosebleed- the characteristic extreme sound have decreased (and quite a bit)!

The reality is that the newcomer presents itself as a more organized work (the recording has also improved), and "serious", based on the style of more classic metal ("First National Stem Cell A", "Timelord Zero"), death influences ("Agorapocalypse Now"), and thrashy riffs that repeatedly make appearances over the album’s brief 26 minutes. In short, a retreat to song form (the old 10-second outbursts will find no space) which can be puzzling. Even Randall, along with the other voice Richard Johnson, goes less full-throttle on the mic than usual, and in the end, the most raucous is indeed Katz.

Amidst various more or less colorless episodes, it is only at the end that the band's noise and mad matrix awakens, with the frenzied shards "Druggernaut Jug Fuck", "Flamingo Snuff", and "Trauma Queen", the latter a unique cudgel, and the undisputed pinnacle of the disc).

Is it a step back or an agreeable re-style? Overall, the album kicks ass, there’s no shortage of extreme cues, as one would expect from Agoraphobic Nosebleed, but the fact remains that today they sound like many other bands of the genre. They still manage to maintain a certain underlying power and an always enjoyable excess without ever falling into the ridiculous / banal, a typical flaw of other projects.