J-Man Agony's unique blend of brutal technical death metal and symphonic classical music immediately took the metal world by storm with its relentlessly technical compositions and precise orchestrations, and it's also helped give Fleshgod Apocalypse enough attention to be considered one of the most important young extreme metal acts on the scene. The Italian band made some waves with their previous two releases, but Agony is the album that will probably appeal most to the more forward-thinking metal community - after all, what's there not to like about technical death metal matched together with classical orchestrations? Unlike many other reviewers, I haven't been entirely blown away by Agony for a few reasons, but there's no denying the ambition and creativity found on this effort.

The music on Agony can best be described as a cross between the previous Fleshgod Apocalypse album, Septic Flesh, Dimmu Borgir, and Suffocation - that means you should basically expect the same style of brutal technical death metal that was on Oracles, as well as symphonic orchestrations and a more bombastic atmosphere. Mixing technical death metal with orchestral music has rarely (if ever) been done before, so I have a great appreciation for the ambition that Fleshgod Apocalypse shows on Agony. They really are a group of visionaries, and with a bit more improvement in some key areas, their next effort in this style could really be something special. While certainly good, Agony does leave quite a bit of promise and potential unfulfilled.

My biggest issue with Agony is that, even though the arrangements are more complex and intricate than ever, the songwriting feels a bit one-dimensional and monotonous. The frequent (and extremely well played, I might add) blast beats become numbing after a while, and the triggered sound of the drums certainly doesn't help in this area. As a matter of fact, I don't take a liking to most of the traits of the over-compressed and sterile nature of the production - it's professional for sure, but I would've enjoyed Agony much more if it had a more natural sound. The musicianship is among the best you'll ever hear, but it's so poorly mixed that everything feels drowned out by the triggered drums and orchestrations.

Agony has a lot of really cool traits, but the compositions just simply aren't memorable enough for me to label this as the 'essential masterpiece' that many others make it out to be - and, as mentioned earlier, the production also seems to bother me quite a bit. With all of that said, there are some great tracks on Agony ("The Egoism" comes to mind), the musicianship is absolutely stunning, and the ambition of this effort is admirable in every sense of the word. People who enjoy very brutal and technical death metal but are also open to hearing some classical orchestrations will definitely want to give this a listen. 3.5 stars are pretty appropriate here.

Conor Fynes 'Oracles' - Fleshgod Apocalypse (7/10)

For me, death metal is and likely always has been something that I'll either really like, or not care for. Much of it finds its technical brilliance marred by poor recording values, or a lack of tact when it comes to songwriting. Enter Fleshgod Apocalypse, a band that has stirred the death metal circle with only a single studio album and EP on the market, disregarding demos. I first came across this band with their 2010 EP 'Mafia', and was pleasantly blown away by the technical ferocity and heaviness of the band. On top of that, I immediately recongized their connection to erudite classical music, which only set them further apart from the legions of typical death metal acts. Seeking out the full length, I have not been disappointed. 'Oracles' is a vicious forty minutes of death metal that seeks to impress. Apparently, it succeeds to a fair extent.

My first impression of the record is that of extreme heaviness, surprisingly clean production, and the evidence of classical sections which really seek to add a level of regal class to what Fleshgod Apocalypse does. While there is not the same melodic proficiency as I first heard on 'Mafia', the classical parts really impress me; the arrangements do not quite sound as if they are performed by a live orchestra, but they are close enough to do the compositions justice. In the death metal elements themselves, there are also plenty of neoclassical riffs, played at rapid pace, to the point where they can get exhausting by the end.

The most powerful aspect of Fleshgod Apocalypse is tied between the rhythm guitar and the furious drumwork, courtesy here of Mauro Mercurio. The band has just a powerful ability to make the heavy sound beautiful as well, but unfortunately 'Oracles' still does not stand as a masterpiece in my eyes. This is greatly due to the songwriting itself, which is strong enough for death metal, but many of the songs feature little to no distinguishing traits, apart from the classical nuance here and there. In fact, the greatest impression left by any single track is the title song, which is ironically a classical piano piece.

Fleshgod Apocalypse would later go on to polish up their act even further, but there's no surprise to me when I hear metalheads speaking so highly of the album. With a little greater focus within each song, the band's next full length could be a real landmark for death metal.

Conor Fynes 'Mafia' - Fleshgod Apocalypse (8/10)

When it comes to death metal, there's no denying that some of the world's most technically proficient and inhuman acts play within the abrasive and heavy style. Freed of many typical songwriting conventions, death metal musicians are given a wider playing field with which to sport their skills, and give a feeling of brutality and aggression scarcely seen in other styles. While all of this may certainly benefit death metal, many of the genre's adherents either fall into a technical, brutal sound with poor recording production, or a polished production that focuses on more melodic, conventional tendencies. With that being said, it's always a pleasure to be introduced to a death metal band that manages to record their sound beautifully, while all the while remaining viciously technical and heavy. Fleshgod Apocalypse is one such band, and on top of great production and unrelenting skill, their 2010 EP 'Mafia' showcases a few very unexpected twists that add to the EP being one of the most impressive I've heard in the past year.

'Thru Our Scars' opens 'Mafia' with full-force, immediately introducing the listener to Fleshgod's tightness as an act. To make what would otherwise be above-average tech metal better, symphonic influences (such as a violin breakdown, orchestral section) and even an operatic clean vocalist are thrown in, to never let the listen get too one-tracked in death metal. The second track 'Abyssal' flows in almost seamlessly, following the same heavy, yet beautiful sound of the band. To make things even more unique for death metal, the title track 'Mafia' is a classical piano piece, which- true to it's title- could easily fit as a musical theme for any mob movie. The only track here that isn't incredible is Fleshgod Apocalypse's cover of the At The Gates song 'Blinded By Fear,' which while staying true to the band's very technical approach, lacks all of the surprising nuances that makes the band so special.

A joke that is passed around a bit within the local death metal scene is that 'Mafia's album cover is actually a painting of the drummer. Humour aside, the intense percussion of Francesco Paoli is absolutely stunning. No stranger to the double-kick pedal, Paoli destroys his kit, and takes advantage of every possible drum fill to the max. Also of note are the great guitarists at work here, who effortlessly switch between crunchy, heavy riffs and neoclassical shredding.

While only still a relatively new band, Fleshgod Apocalypse shows some remarkable talent and promise, and if 'Mafia' is any sign, the band is well on it's way to going somewhere fantastic.

Conor Fynes 'Agony' - Fleshgod Apocalypse (9/10)

For me, death metal is a style of music that I can at least respect, but it usually takes an added dimension in the music for me to really enjoy it. Fleshgod Apocalypse are one such band that has managed to take the fury of technical death metal and done something off- center with it, fusing the blistering heaviness with symphonic undertones and neoclassically-derived riffs. 'Oracles' and their subsequent EP 'Mafia' both largely impressed me, and with that, the arrival of 'Agony' was something I was eager to check out. As my intuition may have suggested to me, Fleshgod Apocalypse are continuing to distinguish their sound from the legions of other tech death acts out there, creating an epic suite of music that could be said to be death metal's response to classical music.

'Agony' is a brilliant sophomore in the sense that it not only improves upon what the band was originally doing, but the sound has been tweaked and intensified. As far as technical death metal goes, Fleshgod Apocalypse are at the top of the game. Crushing riffs and some of the most intense drumming I have ever heard have been the core of the band since I first heard them. To steer them away from the sounds of similar acts however is some surprisingly melodic neoclassical guitar solos that soar overtop the brutality, and the vocal duties are shared between the fairly typical growls of Tommaso Riccardi, and the higher register 'power metal' wail of bassist Paolo Rossi, whose highly melodic, quasi-operatic way of singing is always a refreshing change of pace from the rest. There have also been orchestral arrangements in the past, usually twittering around here and there in order to accentuate certain parts and give them that extra dose of class and charm. The symphonic element to Fleshgod Apocalypse has always been appreciated in the past, but at least on the debut, it almost felt more like a gimmick, rather than a full-fledged part of the music.

This is where 'Agony'' comes in.

Not only have the orchestral arrangements been improved greatly, but they are now an integral part of what Fleshgod offers. Virtually the entire course of brutality on 'Agony' is accompanied by gorgeous symphonic arrangements, and here they are far from a gimmick; they easily add a whole new dimension of sound and intensity to the band. Christiano Trionfera's orchestral writing here is on par with that of a neoclassical, or film score writer, and the orchestration manages to capture both an added sense of peril, and beauty to what the band does. Fleshgod Apocalypse would have still contributed a very capable technical death metal album to listeners even were it not for this orchestral angle, but its the brilliant fusion of Italian classical sensibilities that elevates the band to the realm of masters.

The album flows together like a single piece of music; a technical death metal symphony, one might say. The highlights here certainly include most of the parts where the clean vocals are used, as well as the classical orchestrations, as well as where Fleshgod Apocalypse decide to reach their most crushing and heavy. It can certainly be said that the sheer speed and complexity of the music can make it a tough egg to crack for those who are not used to such technical music. Fleshgod Apocalypse's 'Agony' is a stunning masterpiece in virtually every regard however, and even with this only being their second album, I would safely declare that Fleshgod are the new masters of modern death metal.

adg211288 Agony is the second full-length album from Italian death metal act Fleshgod Apocalypse, which was released in 2011. Stylistically the band is known as a brutal technical death metal band, which their first album Oracles (2009) is testimony to. On Agony however Fleshgod Apocalypse has reinvented their approach to the death metal genre. They’re now firmly rooted in the not so common symphonic death metal. Their music previously had the odd touches of a classical influence for flavour, but on Agony the Italian band has gone all out for this sort of sound. The result is something that reminds greatly of the music of Greek act Septicflesh, but with many layers of additional brutality.

Even with the very dominant symphonic backing this is still some very heavy and intense death metal. The brutal aspect of the band from Oracles is still somewhat intact, but it’s very clear early on that it’s the symphony that’s ruling the show here. The band has also included a lot of clean vocals from bassist Paolo Rossi in the tracks along with the brutal death growls, which crop up quite often.

With symphonic death metal being something of a rarity (though it does seem to have started being noticed this year), then for those who enjoy the sound, like myself for instance, then Agony is the sort of an album that needs to be jumped on since we get very few artists in the style. As a symphonic death metal album this is pretty solid material, however I have to consider the album from multiple viewpoints, and one of those is how Agony is going to be perceived in the wider scheme of things, especially when putting it next to Oracles, which in my opinion is a really excellent technical death metal album.

This is where Agony hits a major snag, the music is extremely repetitive. The clean vocals sound okay at first but after a few songs with them and you’ve realised what a commodity they are on Agony then it becomes quickly apparent how dull they really are. For one or two songs on the album they would have gone down well to add some variation to the release, but now they only hinder it. Not only can they be difficult to interpret but they sound pretty much the same in every song on the album they’re used in, not to mentioned rather strained in their delivery. Not that the growls are very decipherable either, but I never expected growls to be (at least opposed to clean vocals).

The repetitive nature doesn’t end with the vocals though, since there are some tracks without any contributions from Rossi. With the introduction and closing instrumentals aside, there is little clarity to be found on the album. If you ignore the symphonic layers and clean vocals then you’re almost entirely left with a band trying to be as hard, fast and brutal as possible. This causes much of the album to sound the same, leaving the songs with little identity from each other, with the exception of The Forsaking. The symphonic backing only hinders this approach at the end of the day, since without it an album such as Agony might have found a market in the brutal death metal scene, but the symphonic backing could well prove a deal-breaker there. This certainly has a market with the symphonic death crowd; however in the current state of metal, just how much of a symphonic death crowd there actually is remains to be seen. One positive thing that can be said for Fleshgod Apocalypse’s sound on the album is that the guitar leads can really bring life to otherwise symphonic dominated compositions.

Of course the symphonic element is done exceptional well, masterfully even, and the intensity of the death metal only adds to how strong it is since classical and metal actually go hand in hand really well, but I can’t shake the feeling that Agony won’t sit entirely well with fans of their prior work since despite some really great and innovative stuff it’s mostly coming from the classical side (the piano work of Francesco Ferrini is incredible) of Fleshgod Apocalypse, rather than the metal.

Despite this Agony is a solid album from Fleshgod Apocalypse, but I can’t help feeling that it is slightly inferior to Oracles on the death metal front, which despite the brutal aspect had a lot of interesting riffs and lead guitar flourishes, which still show up during Agony and are particularly noteworthy during The Violation for their neoclassical sound, but have taken more of a backseat in general. The riffs in comparison are completely bland, possibly intentionally so as not distract from the symphony. As a fan of symphonic death metal I enjoy this album a lot more than this review may have indicated up until this point, but from a professional point of view I have to consider other viewpoints.

At the end of the day however I have to chiefly base my rating of Agony on what it is, rather than what it isn’t, and it’s unashamedly a symphonic death metal album, and also the most death metal dominated that I’ve yet encountered within the fledgling genre compared to the progressive tendencies of MaYaN or the eerie atmospheric sound of Septic Flesh. To be honest I don’t actually enjoy Agony near as much as the recent efforts from either of those groups (Quarterpast and The Great Mass respectively), since it has its faults as outlined above. It’s a shame really because if they could have kept up the elements of Oracles that made it great, and still including the elements of Agony that make it great, then we could have been discussing a masterpiece here.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scored at 8.3/10)