There comes a time in life where every death metal band that plays the HM-2 style of Swedish death metal have not only kept the formula alive and well, but Wombbath‘s signature sound and legacy they’ve brought to the underground scene has been submerged into deep, heavy territory. After releasing solid albums throughout the years, Agma is the next chapter into the band’s long-running career and is released through the amazing label of Transcending Obscurity Records which in my opinion has been on a constant rollercoaster pumping out quality releases year after year. Agma follows up to their last album Choirs Of The Fallen and while that record was average at best, Agma to me is the band’s most diverse, intelligently written and heaviest albums they’ve done in a very longtime.
Now, Wombbath’s style for death metal is of course reminiscing of the HM-2 arrangements in which this case many artists in the underground scene such as Gatecreeper for example have wanted to maintain that early 90’s sound when you had artists such as Entombed, Dismember, Carnage and Nilhilist were able to create music not only for the extreme metal fans, but their impact and influence being brought to the forefront has been fascinating so to speak. Wombbath is not only a band I been paying attention to for quite sometime but over the years they’ve been as a band creating the most unrelenting pieces of death metal music really showcased the band to make every effort album sounding intensive and expansive. From the the great atmospheric passages to the Swedish and Finnish death metal influences of Wombbath’s musical inspirations, this album takes its purest form of monstrous heaviness and sheer brutality that’ll please any fans of the genre.
Production wise, nothing but phenomenal as the sound is clear, raw and showcasing gritty late 80’s and 90’s European extreme metal. There’s moments I hear some melodic death metal influences specifically the later era of Carcass with songs such as A World Of Destruction, The Dead And The Dying, Inquisition Reborn, In Decay They Shall All Fester and Departure From The Light uses thick bass tones, down tuned guitars sounding dirty and raw and drums bring out bludgeoning doom-laced riffs with near funeral procession precision in the crisp drums, not to mention a superb traditional heavy metal inspired guitar solo that elevates the grit to heights of brief grandeur, something not delegated to their own performances. Agma managed to capture the glory from the nineties extreme metal sound with nice touches of both Swedish and Finnish death metal bands and while the record does struggle from it’s counterparts, Agma does find Wombbath’s latest effort a magical musical experience of a lifetime.
Overall Score: 9.5/10
Review by Jake Butler
