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The Agonist
Album: Lullabies for the Dormant Mind
Release Date: Match 10, 2009
Label: Century Media
Track Listing
01. The Tempest (The Siren’s Song; The Banshee’s Cry)
02. …and Their Eulogies Sang Me to Sleep
03. Thank You, Pain
04. Birds Elope with the Sun
05. Waiting out the Winter
06. Martyr Art
07. Globus Hystericus
08. Swan Lake, Op. 20 – Scene, Act 2, #10 – Tchaikovsky
09. The Sentient
10. When the Bough Breaks
11. Chlorpromazine
Reviewer: Eric
Second time is the charm, right? That may be the case for some bands but in
this case The Agonist might want to check back on their first album. Lullabies
for the Dormant Mind is a trip down the same direction for the band but the
quality is not quite what it use to.
I didn’t mind the first album from The Agonist too much. It reminded me of In
This Moment and Arch Enemy in one. A female fronted band that has a vocalist who
can change styles without any problem. That is definitely a good, which is why
the debut album from The Agonist was so good. Now whenever Alissa White-Gluz
changes between these two vocal styles it sounds unnatural, almost like she is
being forced.
During the year and a half in-between releases The Agonist did some major
touring. I can’t help but notice some influences from these bands, mostly from
God Forbid and Arsis. The Agonist’s instrument section seems to have captured
some of Arsis’s best moves, turning already great metal songs into instant
classics. That’s right Lullabies for the Dormant Mind sounds good, combining
mainstream metal with one of the best acts in the underground metal scene.
There are some times when it is too much, all the melodic-ness. White-Gluz will
be trying to sing when all of the sudden the sound changes. The tracks switch
way too much between the fast and slow parts. Let White-Gluz finish her singing
(we really don’t need her to switch styles that often). I almost want to go out
on a limb and say this release would have been better as a score soundtrack.
Unlike some other metal acts The Agonist hasn’t quite yet hit that point where
they are alternative metal. You can start to hear a semi new sound on some
tracks, almost giving it away that the third album is going to be The Dream from
In This Moment.
Final Verdict
This is not the best second release from The Agonist. I wanted the band to
expand on their sound from the first album, not add in enough metal gimmicks
from everyone else. Overall the instrumentation section has impressed me the
most while Alissa White-Gluz disappointed me.
Rating
7 out of 10
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