The Agonist is a female fronted progressive death metal band from the great white north, Canada. “Lullabies For The Dormant Mind” is their sophomore album that was hyped as an “album ahead of it’s time”, by it’s label, Century Media. Bottom line is this is a modern metal band that infuses hardcore, death metal, deathcore, metal core, and black metal, with sometimes menacing vocals, and sometimes orchestral and soaring clean vocals; in short: polarizing.
1. The Tempest (4:46) 9/10
2. …And Their Eulogies Sang Me To Sleep (3:32) 9/10
3. Thank You, Pain (3:45) 9/10
4. Birds Elope With The Sun (4:30) 9/10
5. Waiting Out the Winter (4:03) 8/10
6. Martyr Art (4:31) 7.5/10
7. Globus Hystericus (3:41) 9/10
8. Swan Lake (A Cappella) (2:53) N/A
9. The Sentient (3:39) 8.5/10
10. When the Bough Breaks (4:13) 9/10
11. Chlorpromazine (4:07 ) 7/10
Overall: 11 tracks, @ 43:38 8/10
This album sounds exactly like I thought it would. You see, their debut album “One Only Imagined” was formulaic. Breakdowns littered every song, and it wasn’t as technical as it wanted you to think it was, if you know what I mean. I knew that this band would branch out to incorporate more types of metal, and use less breakdowns, and they would try and appear more extreme, and unique. Well…they tried that. But at times, I feel like you can hear that they tried to sound that way, it doesn’t come across natural for this band. And while being way more technical and intricate, some of the song writing was thrown in the recycle bin.
So while “Once Only Imagined” was more connect-the-dots metal, I liked it that way; I enjoyed the breakdowns, and I enjoyed the structure, and the songs were well written modern metalcore.
Musically: This album contains great guitar work; there are death metal riffs, thrash riffs, progressive metal riffs, etc. Even a trace of black metal appears. This isn’t easy stuff to play. Chris’ bass lines shine through, in all their rumbling splendor on some tracks, most notably track one, “The Tempest”. Simon’s drumming isn’t what you would normally hear of a lot of records. Their are many fills and runs that keep the drumming interesting. Like I said, the songs sometimes feel like parts, instead of songs, but it is definitely above average in the musical skill department. The piano touches are nice too, a little added bonus.
Vocally: Alissa has a wide range of vocals. She uses a low guttural vocal; like a death metal vocalist, she uses a mid toned scream like a lot of hardcore and modern metal bands, and she uses a very clean operatic voice that makes her truly a triple threat. Sometimes her lows seem forced and cliché, but otherwise she is a very versatile vocalist. I don’t like all of the background harmonies that are going on in these songs this time around though. They seem to clutter the tracks and add nothing positive.
Lyrically: Alissa’s topics of choice are amazing. I really relate to what she writes about. She writes about personal feelings of death anxiety and depression, and loneliness in amazing, articulate and visual ways. But, she hit’s the bulls eye even more for me is that she writes about animal rights, the beauty (and decay) of nature, the connectedness of all, and the loveless life we encounter if we don’t understand the beauty of our home. Her lyrics are like “Ishmael” and “1984” mixed with personal, reflective, and soul barring journal entries. A + in my book.
So overall it is a solid record, even though my preceding paragraphs might seem otherwise. It just takes a few times for it all to sink in, and form songs if you will. It’s hard to pick between the two releases for me. The last song brings this down a half point to an 8/10 for me, as I think the quiet parts really bring it down. A good album from a band with crazy technical prowess. I’m gonna continue to listen to this band and enjoy the songs I love, and hope that one day they release a perfect album.
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