Agonizer – Visions Of The Blind
Häive Productions / 7Hard Release date May 2016
Admittedly this review took a while to be written… the reactivation of this band and the release of this album had not gone unnoticed, but due to my work situation slipped on a “later-to-do” list and subsequently into the realm of memory lapse … Well, at least not as long as it took the band to finalize it (more than 2 years). Not to mention the time fans had to wait for another full length album since their 2007 album Birth / The End …
Anyway, better late than never. Great music does not come with an expiration date, which is definitely the best way to describe Agonizer. Timeless high quality tunes – ear candy like “Trail” could easily become a future classic for the whole genre – catchy harmonies and choruses. A full dozen of killer stuff (just the ballad “Lullacry” sounds a tick too cheesy for my taste); Old School Metal crossing over to Hardrock and Power Metal with a touch of Speed or Prog. Or, if you like Sentenced “Crimson”, Thunderstone or Stratovarius, this will be your thing too. No wonder this album received excellent reviews so far… and now they get another one from me.
By the way, I had a chance to watch the band with singer Markku Kuikka, the latest addition to the band, replacing Pasi Kärkkäinen who can be heard on the album – Markku offers perhaps a slightly brighter “voice colouring”, but sounds as awesome as his predecessor – therefore you should not miss the next gig: January 7, 2017 Tuiskula, Nivala,· FIN.
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9/10