Agrimonia - Rites of Separation

In a short time the Southern Lord Bandcamp has doubled in size. The latest addition is Rites of Separation, the brand new full-length by Swedish band Agrimonia. We covered their self-titled debut here and thankfully Rites of Separation is much more of the same. Sludge. Post-metal. Crust. Epic, well written songs that consists of many diverse movements, like some of the longer Opeth songs. Terrific harsh vocals by Christina Blom (with the fitting nickname Crustina). Excellent production, and tons of anger and aggressiveness. And it's precisely Agrimonia's aggression that makes them stand out, as Austin Weber so nicely explains in the No Clean Singing review

"In general, the label of post-metal describes a cocktail of sludge, doom, and hardcore ideas shaken and stirred into a longer song structure [...] What this usually sacrifices is speed and aggression, since those qualities are not the primary focus. However, Agrimonia do not follow that path. Their take is gritty and vitriolic, adept at punishing you in waves, with a strong affinity for crushing heaviness."

Simply put Rites of Separation is a great album, it's the metal equivalent of tasty dish, that combines elements from different kitchens just right, and leaves you full and entirely satisfied.