Oppressor

Agony (MIA)
by Scott Hefflon

While Agony uses some of the dumbest clichés in the genre, Oppressor quickly leap to the next of their many changes before I can get pissed enough to actually eject the CD and throw it across the room. The hyperspeed drumming and is-that-human? double bass drumming (not to mention the rapid-fire on-the-beat barrages that is the most irritating sound to these over-critical ears) are offset nicely with slow, trudgy sections (moments when singers used to yell “Mosh!”). The guitarwork is very impressive, as is the production, courtesy of Broken Hope’s Brian Griffin. Some of the rhythms are so complex, they almost don’t make sense. If you remember Leave Scars by Dark Angel, you’ll remember the fate of an extreme band that got too good for their own good. Similarly, the guitar squawks and fast-fingered fills are totally top-notch. Again in contrast, the smooth acoustic segues hit you like a blast of cold air in songs like “Sea of Tears,” almost making me forget the fact that the singer is consistently missing his cues. It’s sad to have such a talented guitarist in a band where the mic-gargling singer doesn’t even bother to re-record his parts when he comes in late.