Everybody knows that Poland is a metal country. After all, that’s where Agonia Records hails from. It is difficult to find historical information about the label, but this much I know, they are dedicated to black metal and their first releases date back to 2003. Since, Agonia Records has been an unrelentless machine of blasphemy, more than happy to churn out albums by new comers as well as by legendary bands. Fuck, they’ve put out albums by Impiety and even a split that included Possessed. Here we present seven album that have come out on the label over the last 12 months. Read on and spread the word…

To say that someone is stuck in the 80’s is by no means derogatory. Hell, it may just be a compliment when one is talking about thrash metal. Even though in this case, I am not so sure. Die Hard is a Swedish three piece whose closest claim to fame may be that it counts Watain’s Håkan Jonsson in the drumstool, because judging by this first full-length (it follows two EP’s) I can’t say that they deserve to be known by their music. Nihilistic Vision is downright derivative, and despite the raw and live production, quite bland. Die Hard are stuck in that period when thrash metal bands wanted to go evil and ended up with a concoction that sounded like Possessed.  That’s fine and all, but the tunes included here lack bite and power. What should be a visceral attack comes off as a hodgepodge of uninspired riffs, all at one choruses and vocals that scream to be taped shut. MySpace

Black Devotion is the fifth full-length of Czech black metal band Inferno. In the great scope of things that may not seem like much but it totally is when you count the fifteen splits, four live albums and three EP’s these sons of Satan have delivered since their formation in 1996. A CV like this, triggers questions like; is Inferno the most prolific black metal band in the world? Are they geniuses pumping out classic after classic or do they just release whatever steaming turd the bologna from yesterday turns to? The answer would probably not be as simple as a Yes or a No. As Black Devotion is perfectly executed and perfectly recorded, it is also flawed in that it almost sounds mass produced and generic. Everything here is a little bit too perfect here and even though one can’t complain against a job well-done, one can raise his/her voice against a piece of work that’s been polished and shined until all the grit has been dusted off. Spirited performances are never enough. MySpace

Ashes of Angels is the second full-length of the French two-piece Aosoth. Some may be familiar with the lateral works of both individuals; vocalist MkM was part of Antaeus and Temple of Baal while one man orchestra Bestial Satanic, or Balrog as he is more commonly known, has done his share in band like Aborted and Genital Grinder. It may take a little bit of time to really dig into the meat here, but once one wraps his head around the ugly melodies of Ashes of Angels only one thing is clear, this is a really good black metal record. To go back to the point made in the previous paragraph, Aosoth have been clever and have kept some of the grime and dirt of lo fi metal. Not too much as to murk the proceedings and obscure the details, which in Ashes of Angels there are lots. The guitars sound like two or three and there are instances when the bass offers a new palette of sounds. The result is powerful, almost really heavy. But is also pretty fast to the point of blurriness. Aosoth get it totally right. Enchanté Motherfuckers! MySpace  

While we are on the topic, here we have the new album by France’s Temple of Baal. It is titled Lightslaying Rituals. The line up no longer includes MkM and in fact no longer sounds like a full-fledged black metal combo. Not that this is a bad thing, far from it, it is actually pretty cool sounding, but Lightslaying Rituals sounds like brutal Swedish death metal, from back when that country was still producing lethal acts. So for all those into the early death metal scene, I cannot recommend this enough. The difference between then and now is that Temple of Baal makes great use of an excellent live sounding recording and that the players here all dominate. Not all the Satanism has been washed away though, “Triumph of Heretic Fire” sounds like the most enthusiastic worshipping this side of 2010. The intensity and compositional level comes down right after the first track (“Piercing the Veils of Slumber”) though and even though this album maintains its visceral attack  evenly throughout it never recovers from the violent heaving of the first song. MySpace

I still don’t get what the fascination is with being a nationalistic moron. I understand being proud of your heritage and fantasizing with Thor’s big muscles and shit, but do you  have to put your stupid message all over your music? I mean, you are supposed to be sucking off the penis of Satan not to be combing Hitler’s mustache. And I haven’t been to Norway, but who is moving there anyway? Isn’t like too cold for Africans, too far for Latinos and too expensive for Asians? All bad jokes and politics aside and lyrics behind (no one can understand what most extreme metal bands say anyway) what Bloodsworn does wouldn’t make most Nazis proud. All Hyllest Til Satan was recorded in 1999 (the promo says that it has been approved by the Satanic Metal Militia) and it didn’t see the dark of night until 2008 when Agonia released it. My guess is it took so long for the release of this album because whoever got a hold of it rejected it. I wouldn’t call this lo fi, I would call it shit fi. Bloodsworn includes Trondr Nefas from Urgehal in its ranks. I recommend that band a lot more than this turd. MySpace 

There is nothing necessarily bad with Oslo’s Dead Man’s Hand except that they suck.  The Combination is their card of presentation and it’s as generic as it comes. They play thrashy and melodic death metal, but not deadly melodic thrash metal.  What this quintet offers is generic; as in second rate, as in faceless, as in heard and passed, as in done and over done. Think The Crown without the chops, the skills and the fury and with a recording (especially the drums which sound horrible) that isn’t really up to par. And oh yeah, with dual vocals which are like the most annoying aspect of Dead Man’s Hand. Dag Carlsen is at the mike and even though I don’t fault either approach (the guttural and the generic and legible growl) the balance of both is distracting and silly. Releases like this make me wonder what is up some label’s butts. MySpace

Now, this is what I am talking about. It had to come to Singapore’s lifers Impiety to rule Agonia’s roster.  Terroreign (subtitled Apocalyptic Armageddon Command) is the band’s sixth full-length and is all one can ask from a deathly black metal band. Excellent record. This is chaotic music, truly chaotic, but still keeping in line with their own corrupt ideas of what is musical and what’s not.  In other words, if one was to really look for the musical aspects (melody and unimportant shit like that) of Impiety one would find plenty of that. Right next to Deiphago Impiety is a progressive metal band. There are about a thousand guitar solos in these songs, enough to give Eddie Van Halen a new hip replacement. And they are not only where they should be but everywhere, just sprinkled about, apparently randomly, amongst all those changes and myriad of stop start moments.  There is a song called "Goatfather". At least two bands are bound to steal that name as their own. MySpace  

With a moniker like Necroblaspheme you’d imagine they’d put something a bit more necrotic and lowbrow as the cover for their second album. Instead, this French death metal band has gone totally surreal. But who cares if the artwork doesn’t match the contents, the prove of Necroblaspheme’s worth is really in the pudding. Destination: Nulle Part is their second album and it displays the Gallic’s best ability’s to dish out brutal death metal. The execution is flawless and the intensity of the songs is hard to match. There is a Swedish influence, but Necroblasheme pummels harder than all. The songs are pretty tight and the vocals are super guttural. As good as Destination: Nulle Part is it doesn’t push any envelopes, so I can’t imagine anyone outside the DM fandom digging it. But if you are into the style and don’t mind the lack of gore, get it. MySpace