Wednesday 22 December 2010

#001 Azure Agony - Beyond Belief

In Italy, a thus far little known progressive/experimental band have released their debut album.

"Beyond belief" by Azure Agony is quite unlike any other metal band I have lent my ear to. The album is a fascinating mixture of Instrumental experimentation with Guitar, Bass, and Keyboards, which, backed up with solid drumming, create a bizzare but beautiful album, with an incredibly progressive, avant-garde style.


 The album, I must say, was wonderfully varied. Beautiful, serene tracks such as "Across Elysian Fields" are complimented by tracks such as "Secret Gateway", on which, I freely admit, the keyboard work sent shivers down my spine.

Overall, I have little but praise for the album, with the instrumentation and production being excellent. My only criticisms are the structures of the songs, which I found hard to follow, and remember. I needed to listen to each song several times for it to sink into memory.

Although I enjoyed each and every song, I can appreciate that the Hefty length, often around the seven minute mark, could be a bit long for those who just want a quick dose of metal.

All these things considered, I'm going to give it a rating of 8/10.



 Links:

Azure Agony - Myspace
Azure Agony - Metal Archives
Azure Agony on Amazon UK
Azure Agony on Amazon USA