Polish veterans Aggressor, one of them million bands with this name, formed back in 1988. However, their debut full length album 'Live Eternally' was released in 2008, whopping twenty years later! Okay, they had 15 years between two of their releases (1990-2005), as they were on hold. 'Crisis', their sophomore album, came out in August 2010. This second platter contains, just wait for it... 26 minutes of music. You read it right: 26 minutes! Maybe the guys are just very, very critical, what to put on their releases. Hard to say.

'Crisis' does not sound like it was 2010, but more like early 1990s. Aggressor's grinding death metal also differs a lot from Polish bands that are, or have been well-known and legendary. It is because of their grind influences, I presume. Grinding here reminds me a lot of Napalm Death's 'Fear, Emptiness, Despair' platter from 1994. Sure,some other Napalm Death eras can be heard here, too. Okay, one Polish act, which was never very well known, Yattering, might be somewhere quite near with Aggressor.

Anyways, after oppressive ambient introduction 'Political Incapacity' explodes from speakers. It's grinding, blasting death metal with some suitably pressing melody work. Vocals are violent low growling in vein of Dave Ingram (ex-Downlord, ex-Bolt Thrower etc.), accompanied by Mitch Harris-esque (Napalm Death guitarist, backing vocalist) panicky shrieking. 'Ja' features some more hardcore punky grinding methods with heavy death metal. 'The Enemy' partly introduces slower, oppressive elements to the game. 'Eternal Tyrant' is next varied song in order, after blasting the title track, with heavy 'Fear, Emptiness, Despair' influences; weirder rhythms and some kind of groove-meets-mechanical power drive. 'Cry' is an epic, oppressive song with industrial tinge in it. "Fastest shit" award for this album goes to its remaining tracks, 'Question' and 'Habit'. Aforementioned is possibly the most death metal oriented song with 'Political Incapacity'. The closer is on the grinding side.

The production is heavy, but flawed. The reason are the drums. They definitely sound like a drum machine (maybe they are, actually). Bass drums sound overtly triggered, snare drum is flat and hollow, and hi-hat hisses like no tomorrow! Plus, they are very loud in the mix (well, except the snare), unpleasantly burying a lot of bass guitar playing. Guitars are both ripping and heavy, but not too low tuned. Vocals are a bit obscure in the mix, but work that way. The cover art and lyrics go hand in hand. There are EU Parliament house in Strasbourg, France, with Auschwitz concentration camp's infamous "Arbeit macht Frei" sign on the cover. The lyrics are about politics and society, plus human scum.

Aggressor really live up to their name. 'Crisis' is a lively little album, that suffers from the bad drums production. If you like Napalm Death's 'Fear, Emptiness, Despair' and generally similar music, then you definitely should give this a try.

Rating: 7 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
11/17/2011 18:32