AGENTS OF MAN - ''AOM>EP01'' MCD
Genere: metalcore
Mark
: 7,8/10
Label: On the Rise Records
Year: 2001
Length: 7 tracks - 17:47 min
Link: Agents of Man
Mp3: ''Headless''
Favourite Tracks: ''Headless'', ''Laster's day'', ''If anything'', ''Crumbling skies'', ''Eulogy'',...

Tukaj imam hardcore bend iz New Jerseya katerih glasbo ni najlažje opredeliti saj mešajo čudovite melodične ''emo'' predele, ki jih običajno krasi fantastično petje, s težkimi metalcore območji, ki so bolj počasne narave in ne najbolj tekoči. Tu so tudi predeli, ki spominjajo na današnje bolj melodične nu-metal bende ali pa bolj rokerske sestavine kot v komadu ''No tuch to the feelings'', ki se popolnoma razlikuje od ostalih, ampak ne da bi pri tem deloval čudno oz. neskladno. V komadu '' If anything'' se celo srečamo z manjšimi rap vplivi (ala Body Count), kratek komad ''Eulogy'' pa je popolnoma akustičen s pojavi tolkal v ozadju. Zanimivo je, kake se komadi med seboj razlikujejo in ima vsak zase nek svoj prepoznaven elemet, medtem ko skorajda nobeden komad ne preseže treh minut, kar vsekakor dobro vpliva na poslušalca. Vokalist meša čudovito petje z včasih bolj, včasih manj močnim vpitjem in moram reči, da dobro obvlada svojo vlogo. Zelo so mi všeč izbruhi kitarskih melodij in sploh večino kitarskega dela v teh komadih, saj je resnično privlačno napravljeno, odlični pa so tudi nepoznabni akustični predeli in lepo petje. Njihove šibke točke v nekaterih komadih, pa so grobi predeli, ki nosijo robustno ozračje in mi malo kvarijo zadevo, ampak drugače je stvar lepo poslušljiva in ima zmagovalno kvaliteto zvoka. Tekstov, razen za komad ''Headless'' niso priložili in res ne vem zakaj temu tako? Besedilo je dobro napisano in govori o razidu prijateljstva. Zunanji izgled ovitka je v zlatih barvah in zelo enostavno narejen ampak ne izgleda slabo, medtem ko je notranjost črno-bela in nosi zanimivo garaffiti-style risbo, ter fotografijo za vsakega člana posebaj. CD traja le slabih 18 minut kar ni dosti, vendar so me lepo presenetili in bom sigurno imel odprte oči za prihajajoče izdaje!

English Version:
Here I have New Jersey based hardcore band playing music that's not so easy to define since they blend together wonderful melodic ''emo'' pieces (usually adorned with amazing singing) with heavy metalcore regions of slower and not too fluid nature. Sometimes they sound like some today's melodic nu-metal band, next time they will show a bit more rock tendences like in the case of ''No touch to the feelings'' which totally differs from the rest of the songs but not in the sense of making things odd or spoiling coherence. ''If anything'' has even some slight rap moments (think Body Count) not to mention ''Eulogy'' which is done completely with acoustic guitar and just a glance of percussion in the background. I found it very interesting how the songs differ from one another and each has it's own recognzable element while barely one reach 3 minutes. That definitely works good on a listener! Vocalist's using excellent singing together with more or less burly shouting and I must say he's doing a great job. I really like these bursts of melodies appearing from time to time or I should say I like all the guitar work herein since it's most of the time done really catchy. I also love memorable acoustic moments and of course, beautiful singing but I really dislike these rough portions done with somehow ''tough'' feel. Otherwise things are very listenable and their sound quality is just amazing. They didn't included any lyrics except for the ''Headless'' and I really don't know why so? This one is written pretty good and it's about friendship gone apart. Exterior part od the layout is all in gold colours, done very simply, but it's not bad while inside it's all black'n'white with some cool graffiti-style artwork and a photo for each member. CD least only 18 minutes which's not much but they surprised me very nicely and I will definitely check out their upcoming releases!