Agony By Default: The End of Hope
Agony By Default is currently a one man band from Wyoming in the USA and he/they play some absolutely excruciatingly heavy Death Metal with some absolutely crushing break downs and speed blasts.
But that's not all, Agony By Default have spanned the sonisphere and hand picked the best parts from in and around the Death Metal genre and it all fits together perfectly and sounds absolutely incredible. So there's that and there's also an out pouring of emotion on a couple of tracks and it really draws you in and creates one of those remarkable moments where you can't bare not to listen to the entirety of the track... and that's amazing.
The only member left in the band Matt Brammer explained that there are 2 drummers on the album, it is noticeable but not distracting, as the album wears on the emotion comes in to it and the drummers change which creates sort of a switch in the music and it sounds like it was supposed to be played and recorded this way. The guitars sound great and are heavy as hell, the break downs are neck shattering and the solos are wild. The emotion also pours out from the guitar particularly from track 5 “Amity Road”. The programmed strings and orchestral parts aren't over used nor do they sound out of place. The vocals are punishing, from deep gutteral groans to high pitched screams and everything inbetween they always remain hate filled but also fit really well within the music, it's never a case of “I wish that was sung higher or lower” it's always where it should be.
The tracks are quite a varied bunch, the first half of the album is pretty much straight crushing death metal and the second half is more emotional, still heavy as hell but you can feel that the songs we're written with more intent rather than straight malice. The song “Amity Road” which is almost Insomnium like and for me is the true masterpiece on this album, it has everything and it really sucked me in to the point where I had finished listening to the album in full I had to put that one back on again. The opening track on the album “Degeneration” sounds like a completely different band and is so crushing and immense that it's hard to imagine a song like “Amity Road” or “Ache and Agony” coming from predominately the same band. All in all I really liked this album and while there is two different styles coming through it's not overly intrusive and it seems like the album is building that way, like watching something violent and horrifying and seeing all the hatred and then witnessing all the heart ache and grief encompass the victims as it all becomes to much. That's kind of what I felt anyway.
Pros:
Huge and crushing sound
The vocals are immense
The album really sucked me in
Cons:
I would have liked to hear the music blend together perhaps a bit better with the change of drummers.
Overall Impression:
I was really impressed with this album, the sound is unique but familiar, crushing but emotional. It starts with fury and anger and ends with a soul searching, sparse, final groan. I'll have it on repeat for a while.
Track List:
Degeneration
Suffocate
Sleep
Careless
Amity Road
Away
Ache and Agony (A Song for the Sleepless)
Total Running Time: 40:04
Line-up:
Matthew D. "Axl" Brammer - Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Piano, Strings, Drums/Programming
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Independent
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