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Oppressor > Agony > Reviews
Oppressor - Agony

Fight the Oppression with Lazy, Mazey Pirouettes - 84%

bayern, June 30th, 2017

If you ask any metalhead around the world to make the top ten list of his/her US death metal albums of all times, it’s very unlikely that someone would remember to include a work of the band under scrutiny here; I’m not sure if any of them would make it into the top twenty even…. it’s not because all three albums that Oppressor made throughout their career suck or are not worthy; it’s just that very few fans can recall them without the utmost strain of the memory. I only remember them cause a friend of mine is an avid fan of the band, the only one I know, and he often refers to them when we talk about music in general, with or without an apparent reason. But it wasn’t only them; there were other talented outfits from the US metal underground that never made it to the upper echelon like Broken Hope, Monstrosity, Brutality, Psychic Pawn, etc.

As my friendship with this guy has been a very long-lasting one, dating back all the way to the middle school days, I had an early exposure to the band’s debut, the glorious “Solstice of Oppression”. I wasn’t listening to much death metal at the time, but this opus stuck with me mostly due to its steady refusal to adhere to those detrimental, ruinous blast-beats and hyper-fast feats that were becoming more and more prominent on the scene. The guys had epitomized a very heavy, monolithic approach to the technical side of the genre, not the most eventful one on the field, but effective enough with these inimitable technical “excursions” taken suddenly, without any preliminary notice, creating an early antidote to the dazzling brutality movement that was gaining inertia thanks to acts like Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Kataklysm, etc. It was daunting and awe-inspiring to hear how such a patient, gradually burning, anti-nervy delivery could abruptly grow into something spell-bindingly technical and hectic…

when the album reviewed here came out, containing pretty much the same inimitable volcanic attitude, I couldn’t help but label this style “lazy technical death metal” as this is probably the only time when I used this word with positive connotations. Yes, it’s lazy stuff on display here, and yet it’s still impressive albeit with the sense of novelty from the first showing missing. Not that our friends care too much about it sinking all the ships in Chicago Bay with ”Gone” which has just arrived, actually, with seismic shreds literally out of the blue invading the aether with superb technical flashes carving burrows into the quasi-doomy canvas, becoming too extravagant towards the middle with speedier escapades surrounding them, the mid-paced drama returning at the end to wrap it on. A marvellous beginning which continues with “In Exile”; the scarily stomping quasi-groovy intro may scare away the audience, and the latter will only be too right to run away as this track offers nothing but tedious ten-ton guitars without any more intriguing highlights. “Passage” is quick to make up for the unforgivable “laziness” of its predecessor with faster, more dynamic implements, and although in terms of technicality it doesn’t provide much again, at least it has the decency to break the morose, monotonous pattern.

“Valley of Thorns” is an absolute revelation, it was high time, with stunning blazes of intricacy and surreal quiet jazzy breaks, a contrasting symbiosis that would pique the listener’s curiosity who will gape widely a few more times before the end, moments of the kind not amply served on the next “Refine” which is still a fairly decent proposition with twisted doomy riffage recalling the Morbid Angel feats at around the same time. “Sea of Tears” turns the tides towards speedier ways of execution with abrupt time and tempo changes of the stop-and-go variety, with several technical highlights provided in-between the stops, this particular gimmick later perfected on Broken Hope’s “Grotesque Blessings”. “I Am Darkness” is a sheer steam-roller the stylish interruptions following in quicker succession here as well as the faster-paced dashes both sides walking hand in hand at times, the former reaching some kind of a culmination in the second half with an incredible portion of super-technical pirouettes. “Carnal Voyage” is the final impressive showdown with more chaotic arrangements rising out of nowhere engulfing the listener with splashes of guitar pyrotechnics which at their most flamboyant hint at the future Necrophagist exploits, a most tantalizing composition that can rightfully be considered the highlight here.

Although this opus was another grand showing, it was obvious that the guys’ approach was wearing thin, and a third instalment in the same vein wasn’t going to be placed as highly. There was simply no room for “laziness” on the very capricious, transformational 90’s scene with old school defenders dropping like flies left and right so something gotta give from the band’s repertoire; the loss of identity, that was. “Elements of Corrosion” was a very aptly-titled saga the guys entering the fast riff-mongers’ camp head-over-heels with short fast explosions of technicality which bore very few resemblances to their previous musical endeavours. The corrosive… sorry, abrasive guitar sound was another indication of ongoing metamorphoses which never took a fuller shape as the band split up shortly after this album’s release. The production of a best of compilation in 2009 was just a posthumous recollection of past dramas; dramas that still echo in the fans’ ears in all their unbearably heavy, earth-shaking, lazily complicated charm.

lopsided technical hits and misses - 69%

crazpete, July 5th, 2004

When one normally thinks of strange technical death metal with jazz influences, bands like Cynic and Atheist come to mind. But while Oppressor is a technical band with some jazz chords, they sound almost nothing like the two bands mentioned. Instead, one finds a group more akin to a mix of mid-era Morbid Angel and older Gorguts with a fair share of static deathy groove similar to Cannibal Corpse and some harmonization not unlike Broken Hope. Sound boring? Sometimes it is. Sometimes, however, this band manages to craft an off-kilter song of suprising technicality and lasting impression. To give a fair approximation of the peaks and valleys of this release, consider the following two songs; first the bad, then the good:

‘In Exile,’ the third song on the album, starts off with a putrid one-note stop-and-start riff in the worst traditions of death metal, bordering on a radio-friendly sound sure to send technical death metal fans screaming into the night, and not in a good way. The vocals on ‘In Exile’ are horrid, and the first few riffs behind them are not much better than a Chaos A.D.-era Sepultura clone band. A brief passage of strange melody and interesting rhythm comes and goes far too soon, really not that great but infinitely preferable to what came before and what soon follows (a repeat of the first pathetic section). When I say the vocals are horrid, I mean they sound alternately like the throaty yell of someone’s fat dad or like the strained whinings of a prissy rich kid who skinned his knee while wearing those incredibly silly ‘little boy’ shorts only school uniforms would dare to impose on anyone, sane or not. Finally, we are treated to an asinine ‘my first slow solo’ followed by a something faster but by no means better, even daring to bend its pentatonic notes in bluesy fashion. How does this gem end? A nicely agonizing fade-out on that insipid one-note stop-and-start riff, that’s how.

The next song, ‘Passage,’ immediately sounds like a different band. Vocals have returned to a hateful growling gurgle, and what they ride on is technical to say the least. The opening riff features a heavily syncopated barrage of atonality punctuated by full and bizarre ringing chords of 11th interval jazz-based clarity. Sqealing harmonics punctuate long sections of palm-muted chugging, moving on and off the beat with seeming randomness, were it not for the repeats playfully showing that this madness is indeed orchestrated. Tight flourishes of harmonized arpeggios bound quickly out of the quagmire of riffage, and incredibly varied tempos of alternating fast and slow passages of sometimes polyrhythmic complexity falter and fall over each other in chaotic splendor. Brief sections of chugging single-note riffs here are quickly left behind as embellishments of complex and perfectly executed sweeps dazzle the listener with guitar wankery of the most enjoyable kind. The main riff here is a complete conundrum of clashing rhythm punctuated by a blindingly fast swept double-arpeggio of unequal ascent that makes intermediate guitarists want to give up playing, it’s so flawlessly and effortlessly executed again and again. If the whole album was like this, ‘Agony’ may well have been an instant death metal classic.

The song after, ‘Valley of Thorns,’ is equally varied and tech-heavy, a masterpiece almost all the way through. However, most of the other songs have moments of impressive riffage and technicality, but a severe lack of songcraft. Overall, Oppressor has the flashiness, technical skill, and musical ability to be an amazing band. Unfortunately, this album has too many forgettable moments and a few regrettable ones. Throughout, the drums do their job well enough, but mostly rumble along with an almost lazy feel were it not for the speed and dexterous precision needed to even half-follow some of these monster riffs. Definitely a good buy for the death metalhead who worships technical guitar playing, but far from a benchmark album.