Vol. 99: Acid Mass – “Agonizer”
Volume 99: Acid Mass – “Agonizer”
September 22nd, 2023
Morbid and Miserable Records/Bonepick Records
Good evening my friends and welcome back to the Rustbelt Rock Review. Today’s edition will be focused on an album I recently acquired: “Agonizer” by Cincinnati’s Acid Mass. Released this September 22nd, this album is hot off the presses. I’ve been listening to it for a few weeks and now at long last I finally get to share my thoughts with you. So let’s dig in and see what we’ve got here...
“Infernal Militia” opens the album with some slow, heavy and fuzzy Bass notes. Distorted and resonant Guitar chords begin next, followed by hammering drums. This chugs along for a few bars before the song jumps up in tempo and explodes at about the 43 second mark. Here the fast ripping Thrash cadence emerges and we’re off to the races. What follows is 12 additional tracks that pick up right where the first lets off: Fast, hard and nasty. The recording is raw and unapologetic. The sound is like a rusty blade; jagged and dull, yet none the less lethally effective. It has a very old school, Thrash sound and reminds me of the early albums that emerged in that style. What else can I say here? This is a Thrash album and a damn good one at that. So naturally it has all the hallmarks. As I said there is great speed. The riffs move in rapid succession, barely leaving the listener time to breathe. The musicianship is there as well. With well developed song structures they deliver crushing chords at neck snapping speed, killer break downs and shredding solos.
Eric Stevenson: The Official Tattoo Artist of the Rustbelt Rock Review. @ericstevensonart
The song titles/lyrical themes lean toward the dark and sacrilegious. With songs like “Christ Crusher” and “Sacrament of Filth” in the lineup, you can pretty much see where the bands religious notions lie. To me the stand out tracks include “Altar,” “Left to Burn” and the title track “Agonizer.” I also particularly enjoy “The Spectre,” “By Force,” “As The Corpse Revolts” as well as the instrumental “Shadow Moses.” All in all this is a very solid release. As I said it has a very old school Thrash feel, and it would feel right at home back in the mid 80’s. The music is brutal and charged with a dark energy. The vocals are a grainy, reverberating monster that screams lo-fi aggression straight into your ears. Combine it all and you get a sound that truly makes the listener want to hoist their horns and bang their heads. Acid Mass has compiled a collection of undoubtedly well constructed songs, with an intensity that is hard to capture in the studio. I would recommend this release to fans of Venom, early Slayer, Wraith and Cleveland’s own Necroprophecy. I suppose that’s all for this week. Keep your heads banging and your horns in the air… and as always, thank you for reading.
Until next time, Rock on, Rustbelt!
-Z.M. Delgado
Rustbelt Rock Review
Zackolantern.com
9/23/2023
(Acid Mass- “Agonizer:” 13 songs of fury packed into one collection. Riffs, snarls and solos are all stacked in great abundance on this Thrash metal explosion. I recommend this one to all old school Thrashers.)
LINKS
Acid Mass
