Fleshgod Apocalypse, the Italian technical death metal outfit (and please don't let the label put you off!) released the concept album Agony back in 2011. In August this year they released a second conceptual work entitled Labyrinth, which I have not yet heard in full and so cannot comment on.
So who are Fleshgod? They came to prominence quite recently, releasing their debut album Oracles in 2009 and later an EP entitled Mafia in 2010. They have been seen within the international metal community as a force to be reckoned with as a result, blending together the brutality of death metal with the ambience of classical music, with all five members of the band being classically trained in their instruments, as is apparently common in Italy according to the band. And nothing exemplifies such training as listening to this album. It's warm, it's symphonic, it's operatic yet it's also cold, destructive, explosive and even eerie to the point of chilling. This album, is all of this and more throughout its 10 tracks.
According to the band, the concept of Agony surrounds the idea of the destructiveness of the human condition, which always ends, inevitably, in agony for the perpetrators. The track listing is the first indication of what they were trying to encapsulate (and boy did they succeed!) with an obvious pattern:
1- Temptation [Instrumental]
2- The Hypocrisy
3- The Imposition
4- The Deceit
5- The Violation
6- The Egoism
7- The Betrayal
8- The Forsaking
9- The Oppression
10- Agony [Instrumental]
Bonus Track- Heartwork (a Carcass cover; it's kind of separated from the main body with some 10-15 seconds of silence.)
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The Masterpiece that is Agony!
It's also worth noting that if you buy a physical copy (which I would highly recommend) the songbook, (which unfortunately doesn't have lyrics, but definitions of each word after which each song is named) has a quote from The Divine Comedy by Dante (Inferno Canto XXVI Verse 118-120.) The quote is written in Latin, but if you have copy of Dante's classic in English, then obviously look it up. This is a very nice touch I feel because it's almost like each track represents a circle of Hell e.g. Betrayal for the traitors like Mordred (from Arthurian legend) in the poem, (Inferno Canto XXXI: "him who, at one blow, had chest and shadow / shattered by Arthur's hand.")
But moving on from the overall concept, what is the music like? Well as you'd imagine, it's often frantic, fast-paced and the vocals are usually roared/grunted in low, animalistic pitches by frontman Tommaso Riccardi. But there are also high-pitched, operatic vocals emulating from bassist Paolo Rossi, which often weave rhythmically between the traditional tech death vocal style (you can see examples of this on the track, The Forsaking, a slower song.) However, there are also times where these vocals offer a whole chorus between the death-like verses a la The Violation or The Oppression. These are not standalone tracks or even the greatest on the album, because the whole work doesn't stand or fall on its singles. Why is this? To explain I'll now move onto the symphonic elements.
Symphonically, the album has a variety of ebbs and flows in its instruments, points where violins are more prominent or points where flutes and other instruments dance around the light-speed drumming. This is what makes the album doubly effective. As some tracks end with fairly slow outros, the next track will often pick up from that with a metallic sound, changing the orchestral arrangement to begin a new track that not only advances the work seamlessly but also sounds different enough to be recognisable. To put it simply, there are occasions on the album where an outro of one track acts as the intro of the next simultaneously, an effect epitomised by The Violation. The music video for this track below begins with the uncanny classical intro, before lurching into the thunderstorm of death metal delight! This is because that 'intro' for the video of The Violation is actually the end of The Deceit, but because it flows so brilliantly, they were able to take those two pieces of essentially different songs and merge them into one for a video. The same effect is also used oddly enough for the music video for the second single released, The Forsaking, with the intro, again, being in fact the outro of The Betrayal.
The Violation: A thrill-ride of insane drumming, shredding guitars, haunting woodwind sections and brutal vocals.
The Forsaking: The slow song with eerie vocals,
ambient echoes, and a beautiful piano overlay.
In terms of how this effect changes the album, it causes the whole work to flow so well that the whole thing on some occasions feels like a single track, a whole symphony, which is what they were going for to some extent. Some may find this to be too repetitive, but personally I don't really think it is because even though discerning the lyrics is quite laborious (here's a good site for the lyrics by the way,) you can tell that there's certainly a story being told, a journey being embarked upon, which is what gives this whole album a fantastic appeal to those who aren't even into popular varieties of metal (even my parents enjoyed it!) To put it short, the journey from a small Temptation through to blistering Agony is one that you will want to take again, and again, and again!
To finalise this review, I'm going to identify some standout points for each musician, the parts where they really show their talent!
Tommaso Riccardi: Although he has a brilliant voice throughout the entire duration of this album, the vocals are especially appealing due to the difference between this track and the others, which is why I'm identifying The Forsaking as the standout track for him, the echoes and reverberation are just so chilling when adjacent to the piano on this track, it's uncanny.
Paolo Rossi: Unfortunately, the bass work is often drowned out of the mix by the strings (a common criticism of the album in fact,) though there are some good moments across numerous tracks. But his operatic vocals are where he really shines! The Oppression, where he tackles the chorus is where he raises his voice so high yet unbelievably remains on key throughout, testament to his classical training no doubt.
Christiano Trionfera: The guitar work has very good standout parts in the track The Betrayal, where it penetrates the wall of drumming and symphonic parts with seamless shifts in pitch that match the surrounding sound in such a way that it just fits perfectly with the mix and makes a marked difference to that track compared to the rest of the album.
Francesco Paoli: The drumming is what really got me into the album, being a drummer myself! The fast-pace on The Violation in particular is what really got me sold on the whole thing, the sheer power and force just makes you want to quiver with adrenaline and break everything in sight, an effect that is maintained through the entire album, with a possible exception seen on The Forsaking.
Francesco Ferrini: The conductor of the orchestra and pianist; whilst his work with the whole symphonic arrangements is quite possibly the most innovative contribution to the work, his piano skills are fantastically exemplified on the outro track Agony. This classical track is so haunting and so skilful that upon listening to it I could tell that the journey had ended; I could just imagine it being played over a video of someone being tortured and therefore in agony, the epitome of the concept and a clearly marked difference to the intro, Temptation, which begins with a crescendo of drum rolls and strings, building tension throughout. The track Agony only has a piano on it, and makes full use of it's player!
I hope that you enjoyed this rather long review, and if you like it (the album or the review) please, get in touch!
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