UMUR "Agony" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Italian death metal act Fleshgod Apocalypse. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in August 2011. It´s the successor to "Oracles" from 2009 although the two full-length albums are bridged by the "Mafia" EP from 2010.

Stylistically the material on "Agony" is a continuation of the symphonic technical death metal sound of the two preceding releases. The death metal part of the music is pretty brutal, highly energetic, and technically well played, predominantly featuring deep growling vocals, but also occassional high pitched (semi-operatic) male clean vocal parts performed by bassist Paolo Rossi. Soprano Veronica Bordacchini performs vocals on "Temptation" and "The Egoism". There are strong neo-classical leanings in the lead guitar work, but it´s the dominant classical orchestral parts which define the music. It´s obvious from the arrangements that at least one of the guys in the band is a classically trained musician/composer.

The high level musicianship is definitely one of the great assets of the music, and it´s hard not to be impressed by the speed and dexterity of the performances. The drumming is fast-paced and blasting and drive the music forward with a great energy, and the guitars/bass follow suit. The orchestral parts provide an epic atmosphere to the death metal basis of the music, and that´s where the band shine. To my ears the death metal basis is solid, but it´s not extraordinary, and that´s because there aren´t that many killer riffs in the music. Most riffs on the album are brutal fast-paced tremolo picking and more or less just there to support the orchestral parts and bring brutality, and only few stand out. A couple of more memorable riffs could have elevated the music to a higher level. The growling vocals are also slightly one-dimensional in style, and although neither the guitar riffs nor the vocals are major issues, both parts of the music should be mentioned as features with room for improvement.

When that is said the lead guitar work is on a high level and the orchestral parts are well composed and suit the music well, and as "Agony" also features a powerful and detailed sounding production, it´s ultimately a high quality release. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

ssmarcus Given the reputation these Italian technical and symphonic death metal heavyweights, I was somewhat disappointed by this record in two respects. Firstly, the symphonic elements are used sparingly merely as detours or transitional pieces between the brutal death metal passages that comprise most of the album. These transitions into and from the symphonic passages almost always feel forced and jarring. While jarring the listener in this way is a valid technique in the way jump scares in horror are, its overuse signals laziness and gets boring real quick.

Secondly, the production strongly favors the drums. No doubt that session drummer Mauro Mercurio’s performance here is impressive. But being mixed front and center, it totally muddles out the finer contours and textures of the riffs making very difficult and, at times, even impossible to really appreciate what the guitars are doing. And when it comes to technical death metal, this an essential component of the listening experience.

With all that said, this is still an overall enjoyable record for fans of the genre. The playing is tight, the lyrics are effective, the brutality is immersive, and the symphonic sections are, when taken by themselves, enjoyable.

Kev Rowland Between 2016’s ‘King’ and 2019’s ‘Veleno’, Fleshgod Apocalypse went through some major changes in that both guitarist/vocalist Cristiano Trionfera and vocalist/guitarist Tommaso Riccardi left the band for personal reasons. So for the album, the band stripped down to a three-piece in Francesco Paoli switching back to vocals and guitars as he did in the early days as well as providing drums, along with co-founder Paolo Rossi (clean vocals, bass) and Francesco Ferrini (piano, orchestrations). To be able to perform live they have also brought in drummer David Folchitto (Stormlord) and guitarist Fabio Bartoletti (Deceptionist), for when they hit the boards. Given the changes in personnel it perhaps isn’t surprising that there has also been a slight change in approach to the music, in that although they are still using an orchestra and choirs they are now there more as support to the main death attack as opposed to be as closely linked as they were previously.

But yet again they are producing music which is unlike many others in the scene, which is really surprising given the line-up moves, and here they are again using real orchestral ensembles - a full string quartet, a classical percussionist, and a baroque choir - and guest musicians in the shape of Maurizio Cardullo (Folkstone) and Daniele Marinelli playing uilleann pipes and mandolin. They move between the Wagnerian Beethoven grandiosity which involves all elements into those which are more like symphonic death with orchestral support. Fleshgod Apocalypse are continuing to break musical boundaries and create something which is very special indeed. There is an easy commerciality within the songs, melodies which belie the brutality, and a fragility which is bolstered by something very concrete indeed. The band say this is their best release to date, and they just may be right.

Kev Rowland When I first came across Fleshgod Apocalypse at the time of their third album, 2013’s ‘Labyrinth’, I really couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Here was a death metal band attempting to move the genre into Wagnerian epics and allowing an orchestra to do some of the heavy lifting. Could they possibly follow this up? The answer came in 2016 with ‘King’. The quintet of Tommaso Riccardi (harsh vocals, guitars), Cristiano Trionfera (guitars, backing vocals, orchestral arrangements), Paolo Rossi (bass, clean vocals), Francesco Ferrini (piano, orchestration) and Francesco Paoli (drums) have yet again shown that there is no-one else quite like this. The metal is brutal, there should be no room whatsoever for an orchestra and choir, but somehow there is. And when Ferrini starts “The Fool” on harpsichord then of course it makes sense and is a pleasant interlude before the band and orchestra all puts their heads down and go for broke. How they change time in the manner they do is beyond me, but this feels like a total unit, not just a hairy sweaty metal act plus a high brow orchestra in evening attire.

One can imagine Beethoven rising up and shouting “This is what I wanted the 9th to be like!”. But while the music is always incredibly heavy, massively over the top, there are also plenty of nuances which both lift the overall sound and also make the metal sound even more brutal. The use of two singers is incredibly important, as while Riccardi is often the main lead, Rossi’s more clean approach reminds one of classic Dimmu Borgir. In many ways that is the band they have most in common with, although both are approaching their versions of metal in different ways. Over the top, intense, majestic this is insanity yet within the maelstrom there is control which allows it all to make sense, somehow. In many ways this is a full-blown progressive album, pushing musical boundaries and refusing to accept any given norms.

I am not sure what a pure classicist would think of this, probably wouldn’t be repeatable, but for someone coming into this from the progressive and metal side I can only say this is superb.

siLLy puPPy Perhaps more than any other extreme metal band on the scene the Rome based Italian band FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE has been the most instrumental in keeping the symphonic branch of death metal in the spotlight and three years after the release of the band’s previous album “King,” returns with a brand spanking new slab of molten technical infused death metal along with the expected piano, choral vocals and operatic symphonic touches. VENENO (Italian for “poison”) is the band’s fifth overall full-length release and it carries on exactly how one would expect, that being an equal rich tapestry of classical music components that scanned the horizons of the past and channeled the compositional fortitude of the masters such as Paganini, Bach, Mozart and whoever else the trio led by Franceso Paoli could incorporate. Of course, for us brutal death metal lovers, it is the bombastic roar of the guitar, bass and drum that created the harsh counterpoints that was the draw with the orchestral parts providing Dr. Jekyll aspect while the Mr. Hyde metal created a neoclassical death metal firestorm.

While VENENO follows suit, what’s instantly noticeable is how the orchestral parts have been tamped down a few notches and take a backseat to the fiery metal fury as heard on the opening “Fury” which completely eschews the long-winded orchestral classical build ups and just gets down to business with heavy crunchy death metal guitar riffs pummeling along at breakneck speed. In fact this is the album that emphasizes the orchestral parts the least of FLESHGOD’s decade long string of albums as they don’t really become a major tour de force until the fifth track “The Praying Mantis’ Strategy” which is a short intermission and respite from the distortion fueled metal that dominated the soundscapes prior with only faint background traces. The symphonic elements carry over to “Worship And Forget” and then slowly retreat to the backdrop again however careful listening reveals that these classical elements are always lurking in the background and the main impetus for constructing the melodic flow, it’s just that on VENENO they are suffocated by the pummeling death metal aspects which gives this album a different feel than its predecessors.

Another aspect that differentiates VENENO from the past is that album hosts a couple of guest musicians with Veronica Bordacchini on vocals and newbie Fabio Bartoletti on more guitars with Francesco Ferrini handling piano and orchestrations, newbie Paoli on vocals, guitars and drums and Paolo Rossi on bass and the sporadic clean vocals that pop up. Once again FLESHGOD creates an album that is graced with the perfect production job that allows the beautiful clean aspects to reverberate perfectly with the filthy raw bombast of the death metal that doesn’t sound too polished. Perhaps it comes off as a little muddy at times, especially in the opening tracks but i think that’s what the band was going for this time around. A full string quartet, a classical percussionist and a Baroque choir provide the symphonic touches and once again seamlessly meld with the death metal. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the album is the closest thing to a ballad the band has ever created in the form of “Pissing On The Score” which starts off as an opera with Veronica Bordacchini’s diva tenor vocal talents taking the lead and then turns into a beauty and the beast duet. The track sounds more like something from Phantom of the Opera and never integrates the death metal. Hmmm… could these be a new phase? If so i don’t like it but it’s not bad as a one off for contrast.

All in all, VENENO is yet another exciting chapter in the FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE universe that continues the band’s now rather infamous mashup of death metal and classical elements and tweaks them into a slightly different sounding album. VENENO is by no means going to win over any fans who have already fled the growly vocal fueled bombast of the death metal paradigm but neither will it offend those who have already signed up for the fan club. VENENO delivers all the expected goods and despite a feeling of the recycled riffs and overall feel of been there done that, VENENO cranks out enough spontaneity to keep my interest while retreading the rather lonely niche of performing extreme bombastic death metal with a full symphonic orchestra integrated. The performances on VENENO are top notch and although the ballad is the one track i could live without, the album is chock full of beautiful melodies and ugly brutality all swirled together like a copulating yin yang sign at the circus and for me that’s good enough. While the actual album ends with the Chopin inspired title track which is mostly a piano workout, some albums include two bonus tracks including the Rammsteain cover of “Reise Reise” which is quite an interesting take on the German industrial band’s 2004 song from the album of the same name. VENENO is yet another great album from FLESHGOD!