So here is the cherry on Disconcert’s recent three layer old school death metal cake-the re-issue of Apocalyptic Dawning-the self released debut album recorded by the tragedy struck Quebec death metal band Agony.

Like so many other bands, the 1995 release of Agony’s self released debut album was simply was bad timing and was passed over as that year saw the release of the likes of Symbolic, The Bleeding, Pierced From Within, Once Upon the Cross, Wolfheart, Massive Killing Capaciity as well as releases from Canada’s own Cryptopsy (None So Vile) and Kataklysm (Sorcery), and while admittedly, Apocalyptic Dawning was probably never on par with those classics, it deserved and still deserves your ear.

This is pure old school, gnarly somewhat raw death metal; of course probably considered technically prehistoric as far as speed and complexity, but for its day, pretty par for the course as far as Death metal’s primal throes and lyrical content was in that year. Also of note is that this was produced by now super producer, J-F Dagenais (Kataklysm, Man Must Die, Misery Index, Malevolent Creation, Bloodshoteye, etc), a recording tech at the time, in just 27 hours. Of course, that shows sound wise with a pretty rough (though apparently re-mastered for this release) sound a far cry from Dagenias’ modern polished sound of now-but it’s effective in delivering the bands sound.

As a 1995 album, it has all the usual trapping, rough gruff vocals, a few mildly ambient interludes and samples, low brow lyrical content (”After Death/Eviscerated Pig”, “Homicide”, “Death by Suffocation”), but it mainly a staggering, crumbling, vaguely technical, mainly mid paced (with a few squeals and blasts) Floridian influenced death metal album. Listening to it today, its hasn’t aged as well as the other albums released that year, but is still pretty solid stuff and include the never released on CD version of the band’s Eve of Destruction demo.

Again-there’s a reason this didn’t quite has the influence of its peers-as a self released Canadian band, it didn’t have the name or the label at the time, and to be honest its not quite on the level of the bands that were releasing albums in 1995, but is still a decent little slab of Canadian metal’s less regaled past.

[Visit the band's website]

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