Agonia Black Vomit is an Italian one-man black metal band and this is his second album.
Ostensibly raw, occult black metal; the brains behind Agonia Black Vomit has surprised by managing to produce and album that recognisably plays the classic blackened style, but offers a lot more depth and variety than you normally find in something of this nature.
Part of what makes this album a bit different from the norm and provides great texture across the tracks is the use of keyboards and melodies. Even when the keyboards/synths are at their grandest and most majestic, they still don’t overpower, but are used to add further layers and substantial emotive weight to the music. As for the guitar melodies, these act as defining features of the music in some ways. There are so many stand-out melodies on this album that almost every part of each song contains something that grabs your attention and holds it firmly until it passes.
Different speeds and methods of assault are employed, with the a harsh atmospheric approach being favoured for the most part. Keyboards, melodies, and lead guitars provide a rich musical tapestry for the listener to absorb and explore. As well as the music’s obvious attributes there’s also subtlety and nuance on display here too. As I say, this is an album of great depth, and the music is extremely rewarding and satisfying.
Although Cosmosatanic Wisdom undeniably has a feeling of the 90s in some ways, in others it sounds utterly timeless due to the sheer quality of the music this album contains. The songs are written and delivered in such engaging and compelling ways that the album really is something quite darkly special.
I have to say that Cosmosatanic Wisdom is hugely impressive and not at all what I thought I was going to encounter from Agonia Black Vomit. I was expecting scathing second wave black metal, and although this can certainly be viewed as this record’s base, what’s been accomplished with the style is unexpected and worthwhile. These songs are varied, show great depth and substance, are surprisingly infectious and memorable, and the whole album is just a huge achievement.
If you’re a fan of underground black metal, and are looking for something with emotive, textured content that can grab you and shock you out of your jaded existence, then look no further.
Essential listening.
Wonderbox Metal 