Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Agorapocalypse

In the time since Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s Altered States Of America warped the confines of rapid-fire metal in 2003, it’d be fair to say that the heavier edge of the musical landscape has by large attempted to play catch-up with some of the band’s watermarks. A look at the current state of affairs in the periphery of metal unfortunately still offers up a glut of fallout from Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s foundational work developing the “drum machine grind” subgenre: young bands with access to some of the same raw materials yet none of the energy or spirit that define Scott Hull’s output use Myspace as a vehicle for gaining popularity and little else; a trend toward overblowing certain qualifiers such as speed, distortion, volume and vulgarity (or the head-scratching sum-of-all-parts, “brutality”) in order to garner superlative honors has become a goal over making concise artistic statements; monkey-see-monkey-do runs the show, without much substance anywhere to back things up.

So, in 2009, what is there for Agoraphobic Nosebleed to do to set-right the realm of “extreme” music? Logically, tempos couldn’t be increased much more than the already-in-the-red benchmarks the outfit was known for and such an action would likely be met with one trick pony accusations in this day and age. There’s also really no need for a band of Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s status to enter into a pissing match with a generation of metalheads owing so much to its members other projects; credibility will never be in doubt. Championed for shattering expectations, Agoraphobic Nosebleed does just that on Agorapocalypse, by (mostly) slowing down, stretching out, and telling the anticipating masses to go fuck themselves right along with everyone else.

While certainly less-characteristic of its trademark sound, Agorapocalypse is no doubt a product of the same band that released Honky Reduction, et al. The seething misogyny and untainted punk attitude that has fueled vocalists Jay Randall and Richard Johnson in the past is more than apparent, and recent addition Katherine Katz, also of Virgina doom outfit SALOME, takes little time in establishing that she’s every bit as qualified to spout obscenities in such company (listen to “First National Stem Cell And Clone” for a succinct introduction). As much as I know that Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s over-the-top lyrics are played for guilty pleasure, I can’t help but feel that this time around, I’m personally being degraded for the failings of humanity from the outset, album mission statement “Agorapocalypse Now”. A band that made a name performing songs whose only lyrics were their titles, Agoraphobic Nosebleed has surprisingly packed some actual hooks into Agorapocalypse’s lean 28 minutes along with their vulgar vision of dystopia.

If that doesn’t sound at all like wince-inducing hyperspeed-blur of past releases, that’s because it’s not; perhaps playing upon the unit’s ability to keep bite-sized ideas interesting and frequent enough to keep listeners invested through 50+-song swaths at a time, Hull and co. have instead opted to create a much more spacious and diverse recording. I never thought I’d be happy to hear industrial-strength chugs slowly pummel me in an Agoraphobic Nosebleed song (nor did I ever think there’d be time for that), but it’s suited to the material – not simply tacked-on to add empty heaviness to “Timelord Two (Paradoxical Equation)”. And while Hull’s drum programming has always dropped jaws, it’s impressive just how organic of a sound he’s reigned in on Agorapocalypse. Aside from the much-talked-about drum solo that closes out “Question Of Integrity”, there’s actual style inflected in album’s faux-percussion. I’d never have thought I’d hear so much out-and-out metal groove come through from a band everyone expects nothing but quick blitzes from.

Whether or not Agorapocalypse divides the band’s fanbase for the variation it brings, it should be remembered as the release that transformed what quite frankly was an absurd if solid hobby project into a legitimate metal supergroup of sorts. Flouting expectations and avoiding “just another” syndrome, Agoraphobic Nosebleed bulldozes through 2009’s “Best-Of Metal” category for refining the excesses that makes the band so enjoyable/revered. Though they probably won’t pick up on the hint, this project composed of some of grindcore’s elder statesman is leaving ample advice for the droves of followers they’ve collected in just a few brief years: If you’ve already helped invent a subgenre, why not reinvent yourselves?

Relapse Records