Democracy : Consent to Domination

The intro sounds like a high school band warming up. Not a good sign, but don't worry you're in for a strong album overall.

AOA's second release seems to be all about ...justice for all? The album is themed on the negative aspects of a capitalistic society. Greed, Corruption, State lies, public control, and consumerism. I love political bands with lyrical awareness but I have issues with the presentation here. The lyrics are a bit on the simple side as they are obviously trying to say a lot, but are never very specific about what they want to condemn. It comes off as almost cheesy when you clearly hear the line, "Democracy! it was a good idea. That was brutalized!". You don't say? If you're a fan of political punk, crust, or grindcore you might catch my meaning, as the language that bands (the good ones) use to deal with politics are a bit more intricate and sophisticated these days. It reminds me of the musings of the late 80's where thrash and prog metal were seeking new topics other than satan. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather hear and read this than another silly song about killing and stuffing your grandmother, but the issues are there. The content comes off as dated.


Musically, this is technical death metal that takes quite a few pages out of the mighty book of Chuck with Lots of arrangements and lots of change-ups. You can't fault the guitar work at all, or the production. It's very clean and open giving each composition room to breathe and expand into new areas. The drums aren't particularly inspiring though. They mostly keep everything moving along toward the end so the songs can finish. The album is also interspersed with lots of instrumental tracks, a bass solo and a clean guitar pick fest, "Evil of two Lessers" (Yikes, bad name) and "Lonely are the wise" respectfully. The bass can get a bit too slappy for my tastes on some songs but isn't annoying enough to hurt.

The best tracks are the power house "Unsound Method", which reminds me a bit of "Crystal Mountain" by Death, and the crunchy "Truth Behind the Truth". Both songs are complex and heavy but reign in the musical parts to create more cohesion.

This is a refreshing listen if you're sick of the status quo death metal out there, or a big fan of some of the original bands that made death metal great. Some fans of this genre might score this album even higher, but the lyrical presentation threw me off, while some of the songs weren't controlled enough for my tastes. Oh, and Wah-Wah pedals are never a good idea.