Endless Chain screams its despair.
Following the success of their first opus in 2021, Ville Hovi (vocals), Aki Salonen (vocals), Timo Mölsä (guitar), Aleksanteri Kuosa (guitar/bass) and Samuli Mikkonen (drums, Korpiklaani, Profane Omen) embark on self-production with Agony, their second studio album.
Sami Yli-Sirniö (Kreator, Barren Earth, Waltari) recorded a few solos for this album.
Intro to Agony begins with a certain sobriety, presenting a gentle guitar melody before the few backing vocals carry us away to the eerie Agony, a self-titled composition that soon becomes heavier while remaining in its dark Prog roots. Clean vocals take the lead in hypnotizing us, but are occasionally joined by howls as the rhythm builds to a natural versatility that is also found on Human Race, albeit with a more jerky approach. In some intense passages, the two vocalists join forces for a striking duet, before separating again to begin We Are We in relatively harmonious soaring and mysterious tones, with a few more energetic passages thrown in for good measure. The vocal duality works wonders again, before moving on to Burn Your Skies Above, where the whole band regularly surrenders to fury, creating a much more aggressive ambience interspersed with majestic moments. The musicians then offer us – with an assumed gentleness reminiscent of the introduction – Ghost, which creates a kind of soothing mental pause. Saturation occasionally resurfaces to punctuate the ballad, then becomes omnipresent again on Until No One Comes, as do the growls, but the band also places more groovy passages to counterbalance its darkness. A similar approach is taken on the catchy Blind Kings, where the two vocalists deliver a relentless performance in support of their message, then the atmosphere drops again on Beyond What You Believe, with a few moments of heaviness driven by Panu Wilman‘s leads. We Are All Vulnerable brings the album to a close with haunting sonorities on which the two vocalists take turns, interspersed with airy guitars, and in the end it’s silence that prevails.
Endless Chain‘s gamble has more than paid off. Agony is an extremely well-crafted album that takes the time to play on its various darker, heavier nuances, as well as its Gothic/Prog roots, to develop a striking universe.
85/100
