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Style: heavy metal, experimental, death metal
Label: self-released
Year: 2010
Home: New York City
Members: Youssef Benlamlih ~ vocals
Ivan Serge ~ guitars
Kiyomi Kubo ~ drums
n/a ~ bass
This New York outfit churns out some melodic metal that falls between the experimental energy of a raw garage band & the darkness of Tool. Tool might not be the best reference but they're the first that comes to mind, particularly given the occasional use of quasi-talking vocals. "Scars", which also features an excellent example of the aforementioned talking vocals moving between growling, has a particularly dark opening with ringing guitar chords & African-like drumming that becomes a moody riffing beast with a melodic & underplayed guitar solo to embrace the mood. This song demonstrates that agony is more than just a name but actually a description of the music. No, this isn't agony to listen to, but it is someone's cries of agony wrapped in a musical blanket. That's probably the best description I can give to the band overall, without listing further bands they sound like. Cries of agony within a range of straight-ahead metal to more experimental arrangements. I often hear metal bands as just loud & destructive riffing but Embrace Agony is the first band in a long time where I've actually felt the underlying dark mood. A mentionable highlight includes an exciting instrumental bridge in "Bleed & Burn" that briefly transforms the otherwise straight-ahead death metal. The EP also includes the destructively intense "Untouchable" that feels almost too short & "Inner Cure" with probably the most raw guitar playing on the release.
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