Canada’s most exciting female fronted export, THE AGONIST, strikes back with their second full-length offering, Lullabies For The Dormant Mind, which combines shredding leads with pure technicality, topped off with the glamorous Alissa White-Gluz’s brutal growls, as well as dramatically melodic clean vocals, that take THE AGONIST to a new level of musical grandeur. It is extremely rare to find an up-and-coming metal band taking strong political stands, much less one that’s led by a dominating, beautiful, edgy female. This quartet delivers introspective, scathing lyrics, and their debut album, Once Only Imagined, definitely caught people’s attention.
THE AGONIST, born in 2004, covers a wide range of styles from classical to black metal. Their debut album, Once Only Imagined (2007), caught the eyes and ears of many musicians and music fans alike, and their sophomore album, Lullabies for the Dormant Mind, will once again prove the diverse talents of these young musicians. The a cappella version of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” is only one example of the band’s musical abilities as it impressively exhibits White-Gluz’s mind blowing wide range of vocal skills and professionalism as a singer.
Produced by Christian Donaldson (Cryptopsy, Mythosis), Lullabies for the Dormant Mind exposes new facets of the band and touches upon classical, jazz, opera, grindcore, thrash and black metal influences in a complete metal opus. Following a dark, twisted yet beautiful, surrealist visual concept from Natalie Shau once again, THE AGONIST have created an uncomfortable yet addictive setting for their metal. Lullabies For The Dormant Mind promises to turn heads with its daring mix of moods and styles, a challenging album well ahead of its time.
White-Gluz’s (who Revolver magazine recently hailed as “One of the hottest chicks in metal”) vegan roots fuel her need to promote the protection of the planet and its inhabitants, and she does so through this outlet. Along with guitarist Danny Marino, bassist Chris Kells and drummer Simon McKay, each member brings their own rich musical backgrounds to the table, creating the perfect expression of melody and madness. Make no mistake, this is a straight-up metal band that holds nothing back with one goal in mind: to make music that is as catchy as it is heavy; as sweet as it is loud; and as angry as it is melancholy.
THE AGONIST, known as being road warriors, toured relentlessly in support of Once Only Imagined with a very diverse group of artists including Overkill, Sonata Arctica, Enslaved, Arsis and The Faceless. This further proved that their commanding and intense live performance can win over any crowd. White-Gluz’s uncompromising vision, intelligence and thought-provoking lyrics has also helped garner some positive attention. Once Only Imagined tackled some of society’s biggest issues, including animal testing, drug abuse, eating disorders, environmental protection and man's inhumanity towards animals and each other. The band’s ultimate goal, though, is simply to encourage people to think for themselves.