Labels: Self-Released
Formats: CD/Digital
Release Date: 06 Feb 2026
Tracklist:
1. Telemachean Echoes
2. Cascara Sagrada
3. A Charitable View of Temporary Insanity
4. Whiteness of Allhorse
5. Bellwether and Swine
6. Circe
7. The Twice-Charred Path of Music Disciples
8. Mnesterophonia
Already, 2026 has thrown up some wild news and genuinely weird events. This new soon-to-be-released album from US experimental/extreme metal band Agenbite Misery might lay claim to being the weirdest release so far as well. The New Hampshire trio formed in 2022 and issued two demos in 2023. Three years on and they're ready to unleash their debut album, steeped in the lore of the 1920 novel Ulysses by James Joyce. Expect the unexpected.
Don’t expect an easy ride here, especially with the number of sub-genres and styles that Agenbite Misery set their hands, and voices too. Opening their debut album with ‘Telemachean Echoes’, unnerving samples and sludge riffs give way to a madcap version of death metal, coupled with grind and even straight-up noise-rock. It may not reach much past ninety-seconds but it sure does prepare you for what’s to come. ‘Cascara Sagrada’ sees the noise-rock dialled up alongside gothic post-punk tones, horrifying sludge/death vocals and psychotic avant-garde experimentation. There’s no comparison to their sound that comes to mind, it’s that surprising!
From the initial duo of songs that are a lot shorter to one that takes things in a different direction. ‘A Charitable View of Temporary Sanity’ is lengthy and not unexpected. Starting with gentle guitar, ambient sounds and spoken-word samples, it builds very slowly, allowing time for reflection. That time is cut short by metallic sludge madness that is punctuated by brief interludes of calm. It gets no easier to listen to later on as those off-kilter/avant-garde riffs/percussion are followed by ice-cold blackened shrieks, extra sludge and gloriously uplifting melodies. I have no words and I still don’t know what’s going on!
From what seems like an extreme metal odyssey to a post-punk, disco laden black metal number, Agenbite Misery keep you guessing on ‘Whatness of Allhorse’. The synths are dialled right up on this one and I’d guess this is what Mortiis sounds like, though I could be well off here. There’s a much greater use of sludge on ‘Bellwether And Swine’, with Agenbite Misery using the slower riffs at the start to build anticipation for what later turns into another song that can’t be truly defined, as it lurches between black metal, sludge and avant-garde experimentation once again.
The reliance on intricate instrumentation is something that never gets old on this album and it turns good songs like ‘Circe’ into great ones. It’s still not an easy listen by any means but Agenbite Misery are able to weave in plenty of steady tempos/groove at the same time, as well as some folk metal-like guitar later on. With the penultimate song ‘The Twice-Charred Paths Of Musing Disciples’ being a swirling instrumental one, the stage is set for a mammoth finale, that it just so happens to bleed into.
‘Mnesterophonia’ is the icing on the cake really. It literally runs the whole gamut music-wise; from gentle guitar, cosy jazz-like passages and spoken-word samples right the way up to scathing extreme metal, and near incoherent time-signatures. You’ll understand what I mean when you reach the insane mid-section. The closing third of ‘Mnesterophonia’ is also filled for the most-part with excellent instrumental passages before building in heaviness right up to its conclusion.
I can’t speak highly enough of this record and of Agenbite Misery. It blows my mind that just three humans wrote and performed this album. An absorbing release filled with music that’s truly authentic without being arrogant. This is probably my earliest contender for album-of-the-year so far. Amazing!
Five of the eight songs that make of Remorse of Conscience are available to stream on Ampwall below, where you can also pre-order it both on CD and digitally:-
Agenbite Misery - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574211514876 / Instagram - @agenbitemisery
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