Perihelion - Agg

Angry Metal Guy 70

I feel bad for bands who release albums in December. We are so focused on crafting our year-end lists (and panning each other’s) that we really aren’t that interested in listening to even more new music. Still, Perihelion hold a special place in my heart. Not many bands hail from my ancestral breeding ground of Hungary. I’m sure there’s more, but these guys and Thy Catafalque are the only two that come to mind. And two years ago Perihelion released Örvény, which was quite a nice piece of work. Now comes Agg, the band’s third full-length (they also have two EPs), and I am more than happy to set aside my list playlist in favor of what promises to be some blackened post-metal. I’m curious to see what changes are wrought in the band’s sound on this one.

The frustrating aspect of Örvény was the fact that Perihelion insisted on tacking on superfluous shoegaze outros on many of the songs. I am thrilled to say that is not the case with Agg. In fact, they open with “Tavasszal a Vadak,” which means something like “Spring Game” according to the interwebz. It’s as close to black metal as the band comes on this album, with a thunderous double-bass drum anchoring reverb-soaked guitars and howled vocals. It’s an outlier, though, as no other song strikes the iron in this manner. In fact, the next few are pure post-rock, with glistening guitars and clean, emotive vocals. “Erdo” in particular stands out with a hypnotic rhythm and an arrangement that moves from sedate to panicked. I can’t speak Hungarian, but Google translates the lyrics to be very artistic poetry regarding being born or orphaned in the forest.

The second half of Agg takes a left turn from the first, with mood and atmosphere driving the three songs. Ambient keyboard patches and pensive guitars lead the way, with plenty of texture and emotion throughout. Perihelion demonstrate deft skill in subtly moving songs along, and Gyula Vasvári’s voice suits the music beautifully, in a manner that only a Hungarian can. My cousin, knowledgeable in a vast number of things in life including our Hungarian background, states that “Sirva vigad a magyar,” or “Hungarians love to cry.” Or, as she states when listening to these songs in a vain attempt to decipher the lyrics, “I can’t understand a word he says, but it is a given that, if he is Hungarian, he is suffering and loving every minute of it.” One can certainly get that feeling from these songs.

There’s not a lot that’s metal about Agg. Aside from the opening track and the tendency of the Hungarian language to use accents and umlauts on nearly every vowel (here’s one line from “Erdo:” “tűnő felhőn párnád ködbe vész”), Perihelion are very much a post-rock act. They do post-rock very well, though, and at a svelte 7 songs and 36 minutes, Agg doesn’t let your attention wander, even in the subdued moments. The sound is wide and full, and very lively with all the reverb soaking the guitars and vocals. While the midpoint song of the album, “Parazs,” is not the strongest, it’s merely four minutes of time, and the rest of the album makes us forget its mundane quality.

It’s not always easy to make interesting post-rock, and it’s also not often that I get some Hungarian music, so it’s been a pleasure listening to some well-constructed music from the Old Country the last few weeks. Perihelion can rightfully take their place with any of the top post-rock acts today, and have shown over the past two albums that they’ve got a wide variety of styles they excel at. That always serves to make things interesting. Let’s see what their next album brings us.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-released
Websites: perihelion-official.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/perihelionofficial
Releases Worldwide: December 6th, 2019

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