Album Type: Full Length
Date Released:
26/01/2018
Label: Southern Lord Recordings
'Awaken' is a tour-de-force of genre
hopping doom. It should see the band gain ground on their contemporaries and
even surpass them.
“Awaken” CD//DD//LP track listing:
2. Astray
3. Foreshadowed
4. Awaken
5. Withering
6. The Sparrow
The Review:
Gothenburg's
Agrimonia
have always been a difficult band to pigeonhole; partly epic and expansive
doom, partly crusty, blackened death metal, they seem content to don the cap of
each of the aforementioned genres whenever the mood is befitting. It should
come as no surprise then that 'Awaken',
their 4th full length, slithers and writhes with venom and bile in tow.
Opening with the majestic 'A World Unseen', a track that owes as much to Primordial as it does Dissection, Agrimonia put as much into one nine minute epic as some bands do on entire albums. It's an opening statement that implies that further surprises lay ahead...and lay ahead they certainly do; from the Paradise Lost with blast beats of 'Astray' to the haunting melodic intro of 'Foreshadowed' and through its Dismember style death metalisms, there's very little for the casual listener not to enjoy!
The title track sits at the centre of the album and, despite its mesmerising melancholy, and the fact it is a 3 minute instrumental, seems oddly juxtaposed. 'Withering' gets back on track with 13 minutes of captivating death/doom before final track 'The Sparrow' weaves a sombre tapestry before triumphantly galloping headstrong towards the album's shimmering, sobering conclusion.
'Awaken' is a tour-de-force of genre hopping doom. It should see the band gain ground on their contemporaries and even surpass them. For this, you're going to need to pack spare clothes and snacks, for this musical journey is truly epic.
