Tuesday, April 15, 2014

50 Most Underrated Albums of the '2000s: #41

41.Fleshgod Apocalypse-Agony (2011)
Agony marked the start of a new chapter for Italian death metal act Fleshgod Apocalypse. The symphonic elements that played a secondary role on their first two releases (the 2009 LP Oracles and 2010 EP Mafia) got moved to the forefront of their music on Agony. Keyboardist Fransisco Ferinni- who became a full-time member of the band on Mafia- really leaves his stamp on the album with a plethora of triumphant orchestral arrangements and beautiful piano pieces that sets an epic tone for the entire record. The more symphonic sound established on Agony really gave Fleshgod Apocalypse a unique edge over a majority of their peers in the European extreme metal realm at the time of its release. The classical instrumentation is made that much more powerful with the support of the rest of the band. Drummer Fransisco Paoli-who remarkably had only been only playing drums for under two years when Agony was recorded- lays down some of the most astonishingly fast blast beats I've ever heard and Tomasso Ricardi shows vast improvement vocally from Mafia with pitch-perfect death vocals here. Agony saw Fleshgod Apocalypse reach the next level as a band and put a fresh spin on the technical death metal genre.

Standout Tracks

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