Band:	Agoraphobic Nosebleed
Album:	Agorapocalypse
Style:	Grindcore
Release date:	April 14, 2009
A review by:	jupitreas

01. Agorapocalypse Now
02. Timelord One (Loneliness Of The Long Distance Drug Runner)
03. Dick To Mouth Resuscitation
04. Moral Distortion
05. Hung From The Rising Sun
06. First National Stem Cell And Clone
07. Question Of Integrity
08. Timelord Two (Paradoxical Reaction)
09. Trauma Queen
10. White On White Crime
11. Druggernaut Jug Fuck
12. Ex-Cop
13. Flamingo Snuff
14. Crypto-Zoology [Japanese bonus]
15. Werewolf Women Of The U.S. [Japanese bonus]
16. Dis-Order Of Species [Japanese bonus]
17. Un-Natural Selection [Japanese bonus]

Amongst the many politically incorrect and absurd rants bellowed throughout Agorapocalypse is one little nugget that perfectly encapsulates the idea behind this album. Said line is '...no purpose in being offensive', which appears in "Question Of Integrity". Indeed, Agoraphobic Nosebleed in the past sounded much like unleashing a spastic raccoon on a drum machine; however, Agorapocalypse sees the band exploring groove and memorable riffage instead.

This results in an album that is actually quite close to thrashcore, with echoes of D.R.I., Corrosion Of Conformity and even Slayer being in abundance. The tempos are also generally slower and less synthetic. In fact, this album might just contain the very best programmed drums ever heard, highlighted by a surprisingly natural-sounding drum solo in "Question Of Integrity". Vocals are delivered with appropriate levels of vitriol by no less than three screamers, one of them being a woman. If you will excuse this brief departure into pseudo-intellectual babble - I think having a female vocalist like Kat perform on an album with songs about choking women with a dick ('Dick To Mouth Resuscitation') or what I can only surmise means titfucking gargantuan melons ('Druggernaut Jug Fuck') is absolutely brilliant from a feminist point of view. Digressions aside, her insane high pitched screams add a lot to the dynamics of Agorapocalypse. And dynamics is overall the name of the game here - songs go from blast beat workouts into surprisingly rhythmically challenging technical parts with ease and a sense of fluidity. Without a doubt, this is some of the best grind songwriting out there.

The only problem with all of this is that compositional nuance is not supposed to be a part of Agoraphobic Nosebleed's sound. Or at least, this is what many fans waiting for another 100 short bursts of insane extremity might think. Instead, they will get Agorapocalypse, a surprisingly musical album that intrigues the listener, instead of just brutally sodomizing them. I guess its up to the listener - for me personally, this is one of the best grind albums this year.