This is the fourth album from Swedish progressive/post-metal band Agrimonia.
Agrimonia’s music combines melodic, progressive, and post-metal elements, with doom, black metal, and hardcore influences. This results in long, involving songs that effectively balance both quality and quantity.
It seems like an age since 2013’s Rites of Separation. The time invested between releases must have been worth it, as despite how good that album was, Awaken is actually better.
Agrimonia manage to sound quite distinct from a lot of other bands operating at the moment. Theirs is a multifaceted sound that takes what it needs from a plethora of different styles and subgenres, all in a quest to delivery epic-length progressive/post-metal music.
These songs are well-written and full of dark atmosphere and harsh bite. As mentioned above, the years between this new album and their previous release appear to have been very kind to the band, as Awaken contains what’s probably their best, most affecting material to date.
One of the great things about Agrimonia’s music is the combination of beefy metallic riffs, emotive melodies, reflective calm, and songs that take the listener on a journey. On Awaken the band seem to have perfected their formula, and this is an album that hits like a truck in its instant appeal, while still amply demonstrating its significant depth and longevity.
The singer has the perfect screamed bark to accompany the rich, textured music. Her voice has a very emotive delivery that reminds me of the best crust vocalists, and she manages to embody both savagery and nuance.
Awaken is an extremely strong album, one that should hopefully see Agrimonia’s profile significantly increased. They certainly deserve it for producing such a powerful and satisfyingly compelling piece of work.
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