The Agonist - Lullabies For The Dormant Mind

Published September 25 2010

*=Staff's pick	The Tempest (The Siren's Song, The Banshee's Cry)* …And Their Eulogies Sang Me To Sleep Thank You, Pain* Birds Elope With The Sun Waiting Out The Winter Martyr Art* Globus Hystericus* Swan Lake, Op. 20 - Scene, Act 2, #10 (by Tchaikovsky) - A Capella The Sentient When The Bough Breaks Chlorpromazine

Genre	Melodic Death Metal	Alissa White-Gluz	Vocals
Tracks	11	Danny Marino	Guitar
Runningtime	44 Min.	Chris Adolph	Guitar
Label	Century Media	Chris Kells	Bass
Release	23 February 2009	Simon McKay	Drums
Country	Canada	-	Keyboard
Producer	Christian Donaldson
Similar artists	Arch Enemy

This is a good record. Having been a fan of Arch Enemy for years, I've developed quite the soft spot for melodic death metal with blistering guitarsolos and a female vocalist that can deliver a powerful growl.

Believe you me when I say that with Alissa White-Guz you get one of the most ferocious growling this side of comfort - and some of the best clean-sung vocals I've heard in ages. She simply delivers such a performance that leaves me, well not speechless, but astounded by what capacities she's got. Such confidence and aggression in every damn song on the record is being showed here that there is very little left than to say that if you don't get that this woman can sing you are legally deaf.

The rest of the band is equally good in handling the instruments - but then this comes as no surprise if you've heard this band before. Their debut Once Only Imagined showed that this lot could play, even though the songs were not as great as they are on Lullabies For The Dormant Mind.

Brought more to the forefront of death metal, this record amply shows the growth in songwriting this band has undertaken. There are a few song that don't reach up to par - but when you get so many that simply kicks ass, I see little reason to dwell over the ones that don't stick. The Agonist can be very majestic in their expression, often building quite massive songs, as for example Martyr Art that has perfectly merged the aggressive playing with some very nice melodic elements.

Performancewise the band delivers everything from thunderous blast-beats, lightning-speed solos, technical playing to absolutely haunting melodic stuff. At the moment I can't get enough of this album.