When I first stumbled upon The Agonist years ago, I became a casual fan, really only listening to their singles and a few other tracks here and there. With a new singer, new attitude and more, this might be a strong return for the Canadian quintet. After losing former singer, Alissa White-Gluz to the legendary Arch Enemy, the group recruited new talent, Vicky Psarakis who is proudly from Chicago. After this major lineup change, the group is now ready to unleash their fourth album later this month titled, Eye Of Providence. When I discovered the group, they had this strong metalcore sound that didn’t agree with me too much, but after hearing this album, I connected with it pretty easy for the most part and have changed my thoughts on them, for now they have a straight-up killer in your face metal attitude, boy am I glad to have heard this album. I feel like since they lost a major player, they upped their game on this one which is certainly the strong statement. The vocal style has remained the same, keeping Alissa’s clean to death shifting growl style intact, and the aggressiveness on this album is a lot more than I had anticipated, my goodness.
[tube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urcLhku0I7Y[/tube]
You can get any more intense than with the opener, Gates of Horn and Ivory. Let the pits open up and swallow the masses, this track is pure adranaline in a colossal track. It’s really bold and strong when an artist let’s a little reality on the loose, as the lyrical content speaks nothing but truth about modern day bullshit. Let the headbanging commence! Danse Macabre also follows a similar heavy style. The track is titled after the French words for “Dance of Death.” Also speedy and aggressive, the track follows a melodeath style and one of the best solos I have ever heard for any metal track, it’s killer. I Endeavor is pretty much putting the metal to the pedal. It does not slow down and has that awesome continuous double bass that deems this track really energetic and hyper. Awesome stuff. Vicki really showcases her vocal range in the track, Architects Hallucinate. Her clean vocals really dominate throughout, as there is more clean vocals on this track above all the others.
Disconnect Me brings back headbangs and mosh style metal-ness. More speed and aggression, this one is on par with the first track. While clearly the majority of the album is evil and just brutal, the group does take a different approach on the album as best exemplified in the track, The Perfect Embodiment. It still is heavy, but really focuses more on a cleaner method of heavy, staying on track with the clean vocals and the harmonic solo adds variety to their musicianship. It really starts to get dark and melancholic in the track, A Gentle Disease. With the tone of the track, I can just imagine the body of someone decaying as this sorrowful track plays in the background, it really puts one in that deep dark pit of gloom, which I respect when an artist can bring one to another state of mind with their music. The final track, As Above, So Below is a superb and strong finish to this insane album. Vicki certainly knows how to use her harmonious vocals on this one, the chorus is quite addicting, I was headbanging throughout. With the track being just under 8 minutes in length, it was a wise choice to place at the end. No screams, no crazy double bass, no shredding solos, its a simplistic track that has a curious effect on me, I can’t quite pinpoint it, just something about this one struck me with awe and wonder. Excellent.
[tube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To3-0Q8EUrM[/tube]
Already being a month into the year, this is currently my favorite release of the year so far. If I were to pick three words to represent the album: brutal, stimulating and sick. For a band that was almost pure metalcore in their beginning days to now, wow they have made a drastic change in their sound. These guys should feel proud in creating an amazing album, it just gives me goosebumps in all honesty. If you want crazy brutality, you got it, if you want straight up metal up your arse, you definitely got it, I can’t get over this album, I seriously was not expecting the power this album had on me, consider me a full-time fan. If there was one thing that the album could of improved upon……that’s a good one, maybe more double bass? The amount this album has is satisfactory and plentiful. For those who think the band has gone or might go to shit because Alissa left, no my friends, this album has converted me into a fan. When you pick this album up on February 24th, you might see the group in a new badass light. Stay Metal m/
Eye Of Providence: 9/10
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The Metal Alchemy 