Fleshgod Apocalypse - Agony (2011)

So, all the metalheads came from somewhere; we all had a gateway band that acted as our proverbial serpent of Eden.  For me, that band was Nightwish, and as a result, I've seemed to tend towards music that incorporates orchestral elements.  But lets be honest.  Nightwish might technically be metal, but power metal is too corny to be brutal, and once you go brutal, there's not really any going back.  Don't get me wrong, I love some good battle metal, as long as it draws on the Icelandic and Nordic traditions of battle, not that bullshit French chivalric tradition.

But that's why there are albums like Italian technical death metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse's 2011 masterpiece, Agony.  I never, and I mean never, thought that something using orchestral instrumentation could be so fucking brutal.  Now, for the Nightwish fans out there, don't go into this album expecting nine minute concertos or oboe and bassoon duets ("Ghost Love Score" anyone?).  The genius of Agony isn't the complexity of the orchestral arrangement, but the perfect fusion that the score has with the traditional metal instrumentation.  Throughout (almost) every track, between Paoli's neckbreaking blasts  and Trionfera's facemelting solos, there is a present orchestral line woven into the musical infrastructure.

Metal album or tentacle porn?
You decide!

Speaking of neckbreaking blasts and facemelting solos, lets just take a minute to recognize these musicians for their feats of creativity, and in Paoli's case, endurance.  Watch a video of the man: those snare strokes are all Moellar technique, no flappy fingers or garage black metal unintentional decrescendo blasts - the fucker could probably blast on pillows.  Or Travis Barker's face.  Actually I wouldn't mind seeing a video of that.  

The guitar solos of Agony echo the dichotomy that the rest of the album strives for: melody with brutality. Whether it's the scale grinding in "The Violation," the sweeps of "The Hypocrisy," or the brilliant tap riff from my favorite track, "The Deceit," the melodic element clearly is favored in lieu of atonal tritonic arpeggios up and down the fretboard.  Although, given the technicality of the album, I have no doubt that they could do either.

In an expression of what I can only imagine is the band deciding to tell the world "fuck yeah we're that awesome," the album concludes with the title track "Agony," following in the tradition of their previous album Mafia.  "Agony" is a solo piano piece whose dark intensity mirrors that of the rest of the album with a decidedly Rachmaninoffian taste.  The brilliance of this last piece is the manner in which it captures the tone of the whole album in such an accessible medium - seriously, show this song to your grandma, and she'll probably ask you for the song (if she knows what a CD is).  


Agony isn't perfect; the seamless transition between tracks, while exceptionally badass between "The Deceit" and "The Violation," tends to run the songs together, making the album seem more like one really long, brutal eargasm.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you want to show your friend that sick guitar solo and you've been through every song on the album twice already, it can get old.  Rossi's high pitched waily bits can be a little trying at first as well, but I found that after some time, I grew to enjoy them.  


Now, if you're not sold on the album yet, here's the kicker: Fleshgod Apocalypse can do this shit LIVE too.  I had the opportunity to see them open for Decapitated at the Fox Theatre in Hollywood, and I don't know what I expected, but it sure as fuck wasn't five Italian motherfuckers in black shredded tuxedos and corpse paint chugging Jack Daniels like clergymen.  Even though the orchestration was all done through recording and synths, the performance was musically tight and, as far as I could tell, flawless - though my observational skills were somewhat hindered by furious headbanging.  Oh well, what can you do?

\m/ first

First post of \m/ blog.  You can call the it Horns since \m/ is kind of hard to pronounce.

\m/ is going to be primarily be a review site.  There's a shit ton of metal review sites, I know.  Fortunately, I don't care.  I'll also post links to articles I find interesting or talk about bands in general.  Occasionally, I might go into some of the philosophy of metal too.  You just never know.

The inspiration for this blog came from two things: 1) A desire to subject you, the reader, to my opinions, and more importantly, 2) A general lack of Nile reviews on every other metal blog.  Therefore, I bring to you: Those Whom the Gods Detest.

Gaze upon its beauty

Have you listened to Nile before?  If you haven't, you should.  In fact, you really shouldn't consider yourself a Death Metal fan until you have listened to Nile.

Nile's sixth studio alum, Those Whom the Gods Detest takes the over-the-top excess paramount to death metal to its ideal culmination.  Seriously.  George Kollias returns for his third album with Nile running doublekicks so fast that Travis Barker's balls retracted back into his vagina.  Sanders' guitar solos don't drop panties, they incinerate them.  And he plays on a goddamn double neck guitar.

In all seriousness, Those Whom the Gods Detest may be the finest piece of work Nile has ever put out.  "Kafir" slams you with an eerie Middle Eastern vocal line to compliment Kollias' unrelenting blasts and a catchy riff that leaves all listeners chanting "there is no God."  "Those Whom the Gods Detest" fuses haunting Middle Eastern folk elements with speed and brutality reminiscent of "Cast Down the Heretic."  The terrifying, plodding "4th Arra of Dagon" sounds just like what I imagine the soundtrack to human sacrifices would be.  And the solos...oh my god, the solos!

Take an opportunity and listen.  If you like Death Metal, then you'll like Nile.  And if you like Nile, you'll love this album.  Sanders and Kollias really take their craft to the next level, smelting musicality and taste without losing the tasteless, brutal wave of sound that is death metal.