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I remember Once Only Imagined, the debut album by
The Agonist, led by sexy, straight-edge vocalist, Alissa White-Gluz,,
as being closer in the musical realm to Killswitch Engage
than Cradle of Filth, but all has changed on the sophomore
effort from these Canadians, Lullabies For the Dormant
Mind.
Lullabies For the Dormant Mind sounds like soundtrack
to a heavy metal Tim Burton movie. It's a little out there.
White-Gluz bends and distorts her naturally melodic voice
into many different demonic sounds and styles, from death
metal growls, grunts, clean vocals and a Dani Filth-like black
metal screech. All of these styles fly out at you in any one
given song. And the music has taken on a more complicated,
orchestrated sound, not far from the aforementioned Cradle
of Filth. The Agonist has added classical and jazz elements,
pianos, violins, synths and various other sounds. Melded with
their rapid-fire, hyper-speed drum attack, walls of tempo-shifting
guitar riffs and occasional melodic choruses and breakdowns,
this is about as close as a band could get to being called
black metal without actually being labeled black metal.
Standouts among these twisted fairy tales are “The
Tempest (The Siren's Song, The Banshee's Cry),” a haunting
a cappella version of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,”
“Chlorpromazine,” “The Sentient” and
“When the Bough Breaks.”
Lullabies For the Dormant Mind is a daring effort
from The Agonist. Yet, the band sounds completely confident
playing this type of multifaceted style. The album is ultra-heavy
and demands full attention from the listener because there's
no telling what awaits in the next story. It's challenging
and at times maybe uncomfortable, but The Agonist does something
not many bands can pull off anymore—evoke thoughts,
feelings and emotion from the listener. This is an original
effort I recommend to any fan of extreme music.
®2009 Live-Metal.net
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