The Agonist – “Eye Of Providence” [Album Review]

Despite having been around since 2004, Canadian shredders The Agonist have never really made a massive impact on the worldwide scene despite three solid and impressive albums. However, the band came to the attention of the metal press last year when vocalist Alissa White-Gluz announced she was departing the band to join Swedish metal titans Arch Enemy. Fans expected it to be the end of the band but, for the remaining members of The Agonist, it was business as usual as they quickly drafted in a replacement in Vicky Psarakis.

Eye of Providence is the first time the world has really heard this new partnership and, as Psarakis unleashes her harsh vocals on opening track “Gate of Horns And Ivory”, it very much sounds like The Agonist are feeling like they’re ready to take on the world. The problem is that, while Eye Of Providence is an impressive album, it’s no more impressive than their previous work, when what you really want from the band is for them to fire out of the blocks with an album that really screams in the face of those who wrote the band off. In the end, what you get is an collection of melodic metal songs that don’t really take the opportunity to show the metal world that The Agonist are very much a force to be reckoned with. Songs like “My Witness, Your Victim” and “A Necessary Evil” are solid slices of melodic, shredding metal built around a very traditional metal feel but, even with Psarakis’ impressive throat and full range of styles, they just don’t really do anything to really stand out.

Basically, Eye Of Providence is a solid heavy metal album from a band who’ve made a career out of producing solid heavy metal albums. With all the unwanted attention heaped on the band during the past few months, you wonder if Eye of Providence is something of a missed opportunity for the group to really step up to the big league?

Track Listing:

01. Gates Of Horn And Ivory
02. My Witness, Your Victim
03. Danse Macabre
04. I Endeavor
05. Faceless Messenger
06. Perpetual Notion
07. A Necessary Evil
08. Architects Hallucinate
09. Disconnect Me
10. The Perfect Embodiment
11. A Gentle Disease
12. Follow The Crossed Line
13. As Above, So Below

Run Time: 58:45
Release Date: February 23, 2015

Check out the song “A Gentle Disease” here.