Agenda Of Swine

Waves Of Human Suffering

Written by: PP on 29/08/2008 02:48:41

As far as grindcore goes, I've always felt that the genre is divided exactly in half. The first half consists of the decent, bearable bands, composed with ultra-technical, insanely chaotic instrumentation, often complemented with a good sense of humour. A Kid Hereafter In The Grinding Light, or The County Medical Examiners are good examples. The other half consists of bands like Agenda Of Swine, that do more bad than good on record, blending into the gray mass of underground metal bands usually signed to obscure labels. This review is about why I don't particularly enjoy "Waves Of Human Suffering", despite the few redeeming qualities it may have.

My first grudge is with the vocalist. Obviously inspired by the old school hardcore scene, he utilizes high pitch yelling that's rough on the notes that he isn't physically capable of hitting properly. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to imagine how annoying that is to start out with. Then, when the remainder of songs largely consist of double-time blast beat-infused drumming and next to no (pleasing) melody whatsoever, there's just no way Agenda Of Swine are going to grade highly based on the musical landscape alone. Even if grindcore has never been about melody to start out with.

And this is where their lyrical universe comes into play. Grindcore bands have always been socio-political to an extent, but Agenda Of Swine are so explicitly, as song titles like "Decimation of World Trade, Through Organisation" or "Anatomy Of Social Issues: Problem + Contribution Vs. Solution" suggest. I'll be the first one to applaud the choice of topics that their vocalist explores, and throughout the album, he consistently delivers angry lyrical punches to the gut. Only if their vocalist were more seasoned...

But while the lyrical input saves the album from absolute disaster, it isn't enough alone to lift the release to a point where you'd feel comfortable grading it anywhere above a 5. Consequently, I'm going to end this review with a familiar quote that I use for several genres when I'm at a loss of words to end the review: if you eat grindcore bands for breakfast, lunch and dinner, at least check out Agenda Of Swine. If you aren't a genre enthusiast, however, don't expect "Waves Of Human Suffering" to make you one either.

5

Download: Decimation Of World Trade Through Organization
For the fans of: Rotten Sound, Regurgitate, Napalm Death
Listen: Myspace

Release date 16.06.2008
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