AGRIMONIA - Rites of Separation (Retrospective Review)

Editor’s note: this review was originally published in 2020 at a now-defunct site for a collaborative Best Albums of the 2010’s Retrospective. As the internet has since swallowed said site, my retrospective review now appears here in lightly edited form.

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Written by: The Administrator 

When initially considering what album I wanted to draw into the light for an End of Decade retrospective, the sheer volume of possibilities sent me into a bit of a frenetic journey through a decade of heavy music. Let’s face it: in ten years, the metalverse spawned an unbelievable bounty. But, eventually, the only true option became clear. For such an event I needed to focus on an album that, beyond being excellent in its own right, somehow personally set the stage for the decade as a whole. That, for me, is Agrimonia’s Rites of Separation. This album singlehandedly determined the course of my music listening experience from 2013 to the present.

“Talion,” the album’s first track, begins with a piercing riff, a crystal-clear clarion call. It serves as an assertive hook, cutting through the noise before the noise even begins. This is the track that pulled me into a world of harsh vocals and aggressive atmosphere, a world of deliberate and progressive songcraft. Because Agrimonia are so genre fluid, existing betwixt black metal, sludge, post-metal, post-hardcore, crust punk, death metal, and doom, it is remarkably easy to approach their sound without any particular expectations. As such, a young acolyte to heavy music gained perspective without necessarily committing to the trappings of a particular niche.

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The five tracks contained herein speak for themselves, hitting on nearly every aspect of metal music that I still seek out 11 years later. Hefty and heaving riffage. Spine-crunching grooves. Gentle passages that provide, when required, a little space to breathe. The general air of confident prowess that allows for seamless transitions through proggy time changes. And, lest they be forgot: aggressive vocals. While the instrumentation is stellar across the board, Christina Blom’s rough-cut vox serves as the lynch pin for Agrimonia’s ability to muster heartfelt aggression. Her growls remain consistently hoarse, deep, and shockingly violent. When a track slips into something a little less jagged and sludgy, her voice provides a dynamically harsh edge. Even without softening her vocal blows, however, Blom manages a grand range of emotion. I would be lying if I said that in the course of reviewing new music, I don’t hold vocal performances to the standard established on this album. 

Beyond all that, Rites of Separation demonstrates a relentlessly organic ability to undulate between outright madness and emotive melancholy. Album standout “Hunted,” as a prime example, moves from lightfooted piano to full-throttle riffage to a groovy midtrack pseudo-breakdown, before escalating once more into an emotive hardcorefest...but still manages to slows things down to smell the doomy roses along the way. It's one helluva 15 minutes, to be sure, and the sheer ability to move the listener through that sonic journey never ceases to impress me. And that’s just one track out of five similarly effortless attempts. Quiet reflection and white-knuckled aggression often go hand-in-hand, and Agrimonia demonstrate this far better than most other bands in the arena. For this trait alone, Rites of Separation represents brilliance encapsulated.

Rites of Separation towers above the 2010’s as a monolithic exemplar of what heavy music can accomplish, both from a technical and emotional perspective. While it seems to get understandably lost in the crowd, it’s a shame to let albums so grand fall into the mire of missed and understated releases. I can and will fully admit that my love for Rites of Separation may be due, in large, to the miracle of hearing it in the right place at the right time. With that said, I truly believe it is one of the premiere works of its respective decade, and can not recommend it highly enough.  

Agrimonia - Rites of Separation was released April 30th, 2013, via Southern Lord. Find it here!

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Agrimonia can be found:
Bandcamp