AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED : AGORAPOCALYPSE
Relapse Records
It’s true, oh it’s true: Mr Digicore himself, Scott Hull, is back with ANb! Something like six or seven years after their last ‘full’ studio album, replete with a new line-up, and 13 new songs on offer. YES! You heard right… just 13! And some of them actually are progressive epics… hitting a massive 2.5 – 3 minutes plus in length! GASP! SHOCK! HORROR!
To quote the infamous Seth Putnam – “It just gets worse!” Why? They have a new vokillist… and she’s a girlie! Grind fans everywhere faint en masse). But fear not, Katherine Katz (also of doomsters Salome) is a ferocious addition, her bestial howl already heard on Pig Destroyer’s “Terrifyer” shock and awe assault. Kat’s addition works incredibly alongside existing vocal destroyers Rich Johnson and Jay Randall, adding an extra dimension to ANb’s already demented attack. I hate to say this, but Carl Schultz is nowhere near Kat’s vocal league – she obliterates his memory entirely and with consummate ease.
The big difference sonically is just how realistic ANb’s new drum machine sounds; you would never guess or believe it wasn’t an acoustic kit – again, adding hugely to the bands musical armoury… well done Mr Hull! Lyrically its ‘business as usual”: dope, porn, violence, filth, and death. Scarcely (coughs violently) “PC” – yet… and yet… it’s never one-dimensional or less than intriguing. Musically and lyrically this is pure (groans) apocalypse, but I for one am happy to watch the end gruesomely unfurl. Welcome back you speedfreaks… we missed you!
85/100
SATANIC MUTTLEY
Links:
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