This band literally came out from nowhere to knock me on my ass. Sorry, I just had to – I’m a cheeseball like that. From Spain, From Nowhere are another of those smelting pot type bands, incorporating influences from many sources. They are at once thrashy, deathly, melodic, grooving, and technical. I struggle to find a close comparison, but good reference points would include Arsis, Death, The Absence and maybe Byzantine for their sense of groove.

One thing that’s really appealing about this band is vocalist/guitarist Armando Garcia doesn’t over-vocalize the songs as many new(er) bands have a tendency to do; he lets the music do most of the talking, which is chock full of memorable riffs and grooves, stunning melodies and flashy yet not over the top solos. When he does employ his vocals, they’re pretty one dimensional, but it works, as his raspy growl is mostly intelligible and fits what they’re doing.

“Welcome to the Cage” gets things going, an instrumental filled with all kinds impressive ax work, setting the stage nicely for the album. “Catalepsy” is arguably the albums strongest cut, displaying all their various elements – fantastic lead melodies, solos, groove, thrashing goodness and a pinch of technical flash – it’s all here. Some tracks rely more heavily on groove (“Drugs of War”, “Factory of Hate”, “Breathless (Agony)”), while others are more thrash oriented (“The Fallen One”, “Right to Die”), but regardless the main bent of the song, each incorporates a little of everything into a seamless, fluid sound.

They’ve included two cover songs, the first of which is “Hung, Drawn and Quartered” by Cancer, which I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never heard before. I mean, I’m familiar with the band name, just not their music. I need to fix that. Anyway, From Nowhere do a good job of making it sound their own, as it blends in with the rest of their stuff well – I had no idea at first that it was a cover. Then there’s Death’s “Sacred Serenity”, which is executed flawlessly. They stayed completely true to the song and really nailed it – a good choice of a cover for them, and makes obvious the Death influence in their sound.

Overall, Agony is a pretty damn good album and even more impressive as a debut – this doesn’t sound like the work of a new band, but rather a group of seasoned vets. Check From Nowhere out, or at least keep an eye on these guys in the future, I know I sure will be.

[Visit the band's website]

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