Search - Soulless :: Agony's Lament

Underrated gem from American thrashers~!

Luke | Australia | 03/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It amazes me that a modern day thrash album of this calibre remains entrenched in the underground with none of the recognition that this hardworking American band deserve, the kind of recognition that lesser bands, particularly from the slightly overrated and oversaturated Swedish thrash scene, have gotten in spades in recent years.



Agony's Lament is the band's second full length album, their debut, Darkened Days, is a difficult to find Independent release while they have also spent time busily recording covers for a series of tributes on Dwell Records. This album was released on Japan's World Chaos label in 2002, but has sadly only got decent distribution about a year later through Crash Music.



Firstly, the production is killer ( one of the best productions ive heard on a thrash album ). The guitars slice through the mix like stainless steel razor blades for the faster sections while delivering plenty of chunky goodness in the slower sections of each dynamic track. The bass has a firm place in the mix while the drums are superbly mixed, their beefy sound adds to the robust and crystal clear recording.



Clearly Soulless are a band that has an enormous love for the mid to late 80's European (especially German) and Bay Area thrash scenes, while combining this affection for dark retro thrash with more modern elements from the aggressive Swedish thrash scene, and At the Gate's classic swansong release: Slaughter of the Soul. These influences have been melted into their own unique stew of thrash creativity, and the result is nothing short of amazing.



The songwriting runs the gamut from blazingly fast thrash workouts with frequent tempo changes, crushing and catchy slower breaks and some killer thrash leads, that are melodic, technical and perfectly positioned within the song structures.



The musicianship is stellar, while the vocals are the angriest most inspired thrash vocals ive heard in a very long time, delivered with a blackened edge ( without the typically grating aspect in most black metal vocals ).



Apart from ramming this album down the throats of every metalhead I come across who hasn't been exposed to this incredible band, all I can do is recommend that any metalhead with a soft spot for thrash or melodic death, go out and buy this disc!!



Agony's Lament is a modern day thrash classic. Dark, angry, technical, violent and dynamic, it has everything a thrash album should have and more. HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended.

"