Agoraphobic Nosebleed

Agorapocalypse

Written by: PP on 26/04/2009 14:04:27

I guess you could call Scott Hull (guitarist, Pig Destroyer) a genius at least on some level. Not only has he composed all music on the newest Agoraphobic Nosebleed record "Agorapocalypse", but he also recorded the guitar, the bass, the drums (programming), and mastered the whole insanity as well. Relapse markets these guys as grindcore / extreme thrash, and elements from both 80s speedy thrashcore and the bone-crushing chaos of grindcore are indeed omnipresent on the record. Fans of the band's older material ("Altered States Of America") looking for another dose of 100 songs crammed into a 20 minute EP won't find it here, and may be disappointed over the band's somewhat more versatile approach this time around.

But lets start with the drums though because the fills and rolls are fucking nuts even on the grindcore scale. Fair enough, the band uses a drum machine instead of actual drumming, but considering some songs are clocking in at over a thousand BPM, it sounds impressive nonetheless. The next point to take in is that the band has three vocalists, one of which is the newcomer Katherine Katz, and for once it actually feels like a grindcore band has placed some focus on the vocals. It's not just generally indecipherable shit or cookie monster vocals, but there are different types of screams, growls, and yells present, immediately making the record a much more interesting listen than most grindcore. Thumbs up for that, as it is the primary reason why some people might even notice a hardcore influence in the band's music.

But there's still so many negative aspects about grindcore in general for ANB to score highly on our rating scale. The whole project feels more like Scott Hull's exercise in playing ridiculously fast and heavy than an actual band on a mission to accomplish something tangible. The album clocks 13 tracks in 28 minutes, so it doesn't leave much room for a bystander to figure out what's going on, this despite the few slowly grinding tracks like "Timelord Two (Paradoxical Reaction)". Therefore, despite it's positives in the form of vocals and the drum programming, ANB falls in the category with most other grindcore bands: only obscure underground music fans will find anything to truly appreciate in their music. Rest of you will be like me and just ask "what's the point of having no melody whatsoever?"

6

Download: Timelord Two, Moral Distortion
For the fans of: Corrosion Of Conformity, Cryptic Slaughter, Pig Destroyer, Rotten Sound
Listen: Myspace

Release date 20.04.2009
Relapse

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