Seven years after their 1st ep "Hecate", here's the new recording of NY's Doom act AGNOSIS who reformed in 2011, after a break of five years, around its both original members Andrew (bass, also in the almighty ARCHON) and Austin P. (guit/voc), joined by a new drummer Austin L. (also in PANOPTICON and SEIDR)...
And so, is there any particular evolution to be noticed ? Does the AGNOSIS style still sound pretty original while so many bands appeared in between ?
The answer to both questions is YES ! Well, "particular" is maybe not the most exact word concerning the musical evolution, "logical" would be more realistic, as I guess the guys have simply evolved as musicians and individuals certainly too, met many other doomsters (Archon for exemple is a very rich collective affair) and learnt from them, improving their level of composition. Another thing that is really palpable and serves their identity is that the process of recording matured considerably (Austin L. is also a producer now), the production is very clear and thick at the same time.
Containing 4 songs, "a painful pattern" lasts a bit more than 30 minutes which is yet appreciable to enjoy this comeback : solid and also extremely promising for some more stuff to come (let's hope shortly).
I must admit that at first listening , I was a bit suprised by the first song "the weight of distrust", a pretty long instrumental , but this was more considering that the ep had only 4 songs including yet a cover... In fact this is a perfect introduction to the heavy and menacing Doom of AGNOSIS : based on powerful and rather slow downtuned tempos, the trio likes it heavy and crushing , nothing too technical but extremely heady and catchy.If the older stuff was sometimes eying on (early) Sludge tendencies, the new one sounds more dark and scary, almost tinged with mesmerizing epicness like on the majestuous "writing by candlelight". This song is the longest by far (13 minutes), it represents certainly the most completely what the guys wanted to achieve with this comeback and allows to expect brilliant upcoming material.
Of course, I can not forget a special mention for the PENTRAGRAM's cover "all your sins", an already cult extended version with the prestigious appearance of Mr Dave SHERMAN on vocals... Slower than the original and even more crushing, the musical interpretation is at the level of the guest's performance : HUGE !
So if you wanna do yourself a cheap and immediate favour, there's not hundreds of solutions, this one is guaranteed and not complicated : check out "a painful pattern" NOW !!!
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