New to me, but not new to the world of metal are Agrypnie, a long-standing progressive/post-black metal band from Germany. The project’s beginnings date back as far as 2004, when vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Torsten Hirsch started out all on his own. Although the solo project quickly grew into a full-format band, its founder has been the only constant band member over the years. It’s probably safe to assume that he’s also the mastermind behind the band’s newest release, their sixth full-length, Metamorphosis.
The transformation that gave the album its name refers to drowning. The album cover depicts a person with a deathlike blueish skin colour climbing up from out of a river, clutching at moss-covered rock. Three of the albums eleven tracks are titled Wir Ertrunkenen – We, the Drowned. How exactly that transformation came about is not specified, but song titles like Verwüstung (Eng. devastation, destruction) and Am Ende der Welt hint at an apocalyptic scenario. A fictional one, of course, but if you recall the pictures of the massive floods in Germany, caused by extreme weather due to global warming, the album’s theme doesn’t look all that fictional anymore and suddenly gains current relevance.
In that light the very dramatic beginning of Metamorphosis seems appropriate. Swooshing sounds mimicking the movement of water are paired with melancholic, slowly rising keyboard tunes. Bit by bit the soundscape develops into a bombastic piece of music that would well suit a scene in a blockbuster gladiator movie, grand-scale fighting – or the spectacle of the unleashed forces of nature bringing massive destruction to man-built structures. Wow!
The theatrical intro, however, is really just an intro and does in no way represent the rest of the album. Starting with track number two, the majority of the album’s playing time is taken up by aggressive, fast, energy-laden, guitar-heavy compositions, with raw, guttural vocals. The lyrics in German add to the sound’s rawness, a rawness which transmits honesty – this sounds like someone’s singing from their guts and bowels. Impressive! The basis of the music is clearly black metal, but keyboards make the soundscapes a bit rounder at the edges, provide additional levels, breaks from the fury and add more melodious elements. Old school, heavy metal guitar parts fulfil a similar function, bringing even more diversity. The prevailing sentiment is one of angry despair, threatening to spill over into insanity. This is well portrayed in the lyric video to the track Verwüstung which shows a prisoner in a barren cell, surrounded by nothing but concrete walls. His scribblings on walls and floor are the song’s lyrics.
Metamorphosis, as far as I can tell, does not constitute any massive change for Agrypnie and should go down well with old fans. The band still combines and contrasts aggressive black metal with more melancholic and melodious elements, just as they did on previous releases. They do so, however, with more energy and skill than most of the numerous bands active in the progressive/post metal genre. Albeit a bit too long to listen to in one session, Metamorphosis brings very well written, expertly performed music featuring numerous killer passages and plenty of hooks and should appeal to a broad spectrum of metal fans.
(8/10 Slavica)
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