Artist: Agathocles
Country: Belgium
Label: Displeased Records
Formats: CD
Year: 2008
Second album from these longlasting Belgians on Displeased Records, which means that Agathocles is, for the first time in their twenty-year-plus career, widely available in record stores and almost all distros and online metal shops. But if you have the idea that his is a sell-out you are as wrong as you can get, it is more likely that George Bush would turn Muslim and feast with Osama Bin Laden than Agathocles to turn their backs to their roots. Basically, the title of this album says enough, “Grind Is Protest”.
Musically Agathocles does not surprise at all. Agathocles is one of those steady forces in grindcore (or mincecore, if you will) that you can always rely on. In the past they have tried to combine their tried-and-tested formula of pummeling uttermost primitive grindcore with other styles, being it (doomy) metal, punk and even a bit of industrial, but still the music stayed the same and, above all, interesting and recognizable. That is quite an achievement in a scene that is overgrown with mediocre musicians that are only out to make noise. Honesty definitely pays off in the end! Song-wise there is the usual ‘socially aware’ topic, couldn’t be missed. But a song like “Paula”, about some girl in a ‘Siekiera’-patched jacket, is therefore a rather strange exception – and actually one of the best and most catchy tracks of the album. The sound is, again, rather muddy which adds to the underground atmosphere the album breathes, though without touching the slighty better production in comparison to some of the many 7” EPs the band released in the recent years. The more professional part of the album actually doesn’t lie in the music or the recording, but the well designed booklet. The proof that a good looking package is not affecting the integrity of any underground band – mind you, nothing against xeroxed DIY 7”es or any of that!
Between “Supriority Overdose” and “Mincer” there was a gap of five years, but with the quality of these last albums it is hopefull that they carry on with this grinding pace.
It might not be left unmentioned that these songs are some of the last to be released with Tony Schepkens, as he passed away last August. The album is dedicated to his memory and he couldn’t have got a much better memorial album.
