(written by Islander)
It’s highly likely that scrolling metal lovers will freeze in place when they see the painting up above. It’s a ghastly and frightening vision, and one that suits the name of the band whose debut album it adorns: Eyes of Agony.
Yes, When They Return is a debut album, but it was created by experienced hands. Eyes of Agony was established by Danny Cinicolo, founder of such old-school Italian death metal bands as Excidium and Maleficarum, whose histories stretch back to the ‘90s and even into the mid ‘80s. After sharing some of his new songs via YouTube and receiving enthusiastic responses, he enlisted his old friend and bandmate in Maleficarum, Andrea Zanetti, whose experience has included roles in Iconoclast, Schizo, Monumentum, Sinoath, and the aforementioned Maleficarum.
With Zanetti in place as vocalist, the two of them then recruited drummer Davide Billia (whose credits include Beheaded, Hour of Penance, Antropofagus, Putridity, and Septycal Gorge, among many others), guitarist Massimo Boffa (whose resume includes Mind Control and Halley), and bassist Fabrizio Biondi (Jesus) (who was part of Mechanical God Creation).
Their work together resulted in an album of nine tracks and 36 minutes that will be released in November by Awakening Records, and today we’re premiering one of those — the song that shares the name of the band itself.
Eyes of Agony drew inspiration from the likes of Incantation, Nile, Cannibal Corpse, At the Gates, and Death, but as you’ll discover from just the one song we’re now presenting, their songwriting includes distinctive surprises as well.
Lyrically, “Eyes of Agony” (the song) presents a disturbing vision. Narrated by a living soul in a corrupted corpse, it rages at the rottenness of the world and the hellish torment of its own condition, but grasps its own divinity as it pleads for release.
Within the song Andrea Zanetti expels the words through a hair-raising, channel-shifting amalgam of unhinged snarls, wild howls, grim mutterings, and rabid screams. It’s a borderline berserk performance, and just as unsettling as the words themselves.
As for the music, it too is an amalgam, and a very ferocious and frightening one, a full-throttle channeling of torment, malevolence, and madness that’s nevertheless technically very impressive — razor-sharp execution in service of viciousness, violence, and a kind of lunatic ecstasy — and melodically varied.
It includes fretwork that rapidly jolts, feverishly swarms, and insidiously swirls, all of it backed by nimble bass contortions and neck-cracking beats segmented with bursts of jackhammering groove. It also includes slithering melodies that express abysmal moods and others that frantically throb, accompanied by electrifying drum-fills, as well as an eye-popping dual-guitar solo that (at least to this writer) resembles a free-jazz freakout, even down to the saxophone-like tones.
The song’s finale feels like being immersed in a buzzing swarm of flies while being fired upon by a Gatling gun in an asylum for insane demons who are running rampant.
It’s an exhilarating song from start to finish, but with so many head-spinning ingredients and so many mood changes that every listen is likely to open your eyes to something new.
When They Return was produced by Danny Cinicolo and Andrea Zanetti, and it was mixed and mastered by Luca Nicolucci at Comet Broadcasting Studio. The horrifying cover art was conceptualized by Sofia Cinicolo and painted by Julian Mortuus.
Awakening Records will release it on November 20th on CD and digital formats – for pre-orders, check the links below. Also below you’ll be able to stream a previously released song from the album, “Resuscitation Failed“.
PRE-ORDER:
https://awakeningrecordscn.bigcartel.com/product/eyes-of-agony-when-they-return-cd
https://awakeningrecordscn.bandcamp.com/album/when-they-return
PRE-SAVE:
https://label-caster.ffm.to/7q7douzxdw
EYES OF AGONY:
https://www.facebook.com/eyesofagony
https://www.instagram.com/eyes.of.agony_official