Agga Interview

Here is an interview with the sole member of one man black/thrash metal band Agga. In this interview we discuss the future of Agga, mythology, and many other things. If you haven't already check out Agga's music here http://soundcloud.com/agga40

 Foul Feast: Is Agga the first musical project you've been involved with?

Lord of Babylon: It's the first serious project outside of random jams with various buddies. I've been making music for awhile, but a big portion of the material was sloppily made stuff on a Tascam 4 track recorder using pre programmed drum beats on a Casio keyboard. I'm slowly rerecording the older stuff I'm more fond of, Flight of Suhgurim is one example of this.

FF: Most of your music deals with Babylonian and various forms of mythology. Is this something you enjoy studying and learning about in your personal life as well?

Lord of Babylon: This is very much a part of my everyday life. I've always felt if one is going to use mythological themes for their lyrical subject matter there should be a real personal connection of some sort as well otherwise it's just bullshit. I started out in my teen years being into some basic Satanic stuff but once I read the Simon Necronomicon I found myself very much drawn to that way. Granted the Simon Necronomicon is an incomplete look into a far more complex Mesopotamian mythological pantheon it does provide one with tools to begin the work. From there I learned about Aleister Crowley and found the more work I did with the Necronomicon the more I understood Crowley's writings. In time I began to come upon more actual subject matter dealing with historical Mesopotamian lore and began cross referencing the historical/archeological information with what is in the Necronomicon and found this to be vital in fully understanding the various systems/pantheons from Mesopotamia. As far as I have found, all the mythologies/pantheons are interconnected on varying levels but to see those connections helps put the missing pieces in place. It is most definitely a work in progress but an enjoyable effort.

FF: How important is the atmosphere to you on an Agga release?

Lord of Babylon: Very important. I'll go and listen to many bands and when there isn't ANY atmosphere I tend to get bored quick. Most of the guys I used to jam with never really took into account atmosphere and were more concerned with "cool riffs" but not using those cool riffs to evoke something, a soundscape if you will. Creating an atmosphere isn't an easy endevour but I feel its worth the effort once you can effectively communicate something to the listener. Dont get me wrong, I LOVE the in your face metal stuff for its pure power but that can get old fast.

FF: Has your influence shifted much since the last Agga album?

Lord of Babylon: I have to say yes. I've found myself listening more to thrashy stuff the last year or so. As far as black metal is concerned, I find myself enjoying the thrashy stuff more than your overly symphonic "epic" stuff, ironically. I guess listening to the overly symphonic stuff for many years has finally caused me to get burned out on that sort of music. Like back in the day I'd listen to some Therion, Emperor and Tiamat non-stop but these days all 3 bore me to death and instead I'll jam me some Absu (Third Storm.. and The Sun of..) or Gehennah (Hardrocker) and stuff like that. Sure, there isn't alot of what one would typically consider "atmosphere" in that stuff but in my eyes I say there is tons of emotions going on. Its a more active emotional release than what one typically associates with atmosphere. Emotions are varied so to create atmosphere one must access all the expressions of emotions from its manic peaks to its depressive valleys.

FF: What can we expect to see in the future from Agga?

Lord of Babylon: Good question, hahaha. I kind of go where I'm supposed to go. Sorry for the totally cliched answer there but it's the truth. I will say this, I am in process of applying the mythological concepts to real world happenings in order to give more life to the lyrical concepts. I find mythology was just an in depth description of the society who created the particular mythos so trying to find its core principals and applying it to modern life can be an interesting working.

FF: How do you go about writing a song? Is there a certain instrument you always start with during the writing process?

Lord of Babylon: I typically start off with a very basic drum track that is separated into individual measures. Then I begin the guitar process, slowly constructing the rhythm section, two tracks for this. After this I construct the actual drum tracks (using another drum program) to fit with the rhythm section. Once I feel this has been done to satisfaction, in comes the bass lines, since I like to have the actual drum tracks in place before doing the bass lines. Lead guitars and vocals come in after all this dependent on their need at that part of the song. So in short it truly is constructing a song from the ground up. It's a really cool feeling seeing a song manifest from random riffs and sounds. This is what I mean by kind of going where the song is taking me rather than have a rigid plan in place.

FF: Do you ever plan on branching the project out a getting together a full line-up?

Lord of Babylon: I'd LOVE to eventually get a group of guys together to play live, but everyone seems to want to play brootul death metal or some form of Pantera/Shadows Fall boring commercial metal worship. Also, drummers are a pain in the fuckin ass, seriously! They seem to want to dictate too much of the goings on and it invariably turns into the drummer wanting to change things to some sort of progressive music angle. I've found drummers care less about atmosphere and more about playing complex shit to impress everyone. Yawnnnnn

FF: Are the any bands in your area playing a style that is even relatively similar?

Lord of Babylon: Nope, not that I know of at least. I really wish I was around back in the early 90's as Tampa isn't too far (2 and 1/2 hrs) away from me and I think things would be a bit different. All the local metal I've noticed around here is of the commercial metal variety or death core sort. This is why I concentrate my efforts online as the scene around here (Naples/Ft Myers) blows ass nuggets.

FF: Any final thoughts?

Lord of Babylon: Other than fuck poser metal and hail true underground metal that is full of passion, real anger, and other assorted real emotions... I can't think of anything. Perhaps goto http://soundcloud.com/agga40 and check out both the 2008 self titled album there and the 4 newest songs. Also thank you jugchord07 for the interview, I enjoyed it. It's weird being on this end of the interview, haha. Keep up the good work man and everyone, turn your back on the poser rockstar wannabe metal out there. Metal is a lifestyle, not a hipster trend!

Agga- 4 Track Promo

Lord of Babylon is back to unleash four new Agga tracks. For those not familiar Agga is a one-man project from Florida that plays a nice blend of thrash and black metal. In my review for their debut I used the term epic metal to describe them and by the sound of these tracks that appears to still be the perfect term to describe their music. Though it is difficult to tell much from four tracks The Lord of Babylon makes one thing very clear, he is still on his game and Agga will continue to strive to be the best it can be.

One thing that has improved since the debut is the mixing. The drums aren't so high up in the mix and it really just makes the listening experience more enjoyable. Other than that this is exactly what I had imagined the new material would sound like. This is by no means a bad thing and it is not simply a carbon copy of the self-titled album. That being said fans of the first release will not be disappointed.

The four tracks featured here clock in at just under thirty minutes. Two of the songs are instrumentals and they are both sound fantastic. The first instrumental titled "Prelude to Time" is possibly the most catchy track ever recorded by Agga. The constant stream of ancient sounding tremolo picked sections make the seven minute length go by faster than an Anal Cunt track. The instrumentals may have vocals included by the time an actual release surfaces but in all honesty, "Prelude to Time" sounds near perfect the way it is. The other instrumental "The New Age Of Tiamat" contains a bit of a surprise. The track gets very groovy about halfway in, the transition from speedy riffs to crushing grooves is done almost seamlessly. At first this moment doesn't seem to fit but upon further listening it sort of grows on you and makes for a genuinely heavy moment.

The vocals seem much more scratchy than before. They are also quite a bit easier to distinguish compared to the previous release. Aside from the chanting featured on "When the Tablets of Destiny are Broken" we don't really hear any clean vocals here. The songs are more thrash oriented than most of the material on Agga. They still maintain the unique sound that was displayed in the past, they just have more of a "full speed ahead" attitude going for them.

Overall Agga appears to be up to the task of following up their debut with something just as good, if not better. These new tracks definitely show that the amazing first impression that was given initially was not a fluke. If the rest of the upcoming album is up to par with this The Lord of Babylon will have an excellent album on his hands to say the least. Definitely keep an eye out for Agga.

Agga- Agga

Agga is a beast that consists of one member that goes by the name Lord of Babylon. The band is based in Florida and plays a style that I can only define as epic metal. Prepare yourself for some very well produced DIY metal that will have many bedroom band members putting their instruments up realizing that they can never bring forth a slab of metal as epic as the likes of Agga have with this album.

The album begins with a nice little intro and by the sounds of things nobody will be surprised to hear that the lyrical themes Agga deal in are related to Babylonian and Sumerian Mythology. After the intro ceases the first heavy track on the album kicks off. Titled after the sole member of Agga "The Lord Of Babylon" sets an atmosphere that makes the listener feel as though they are stumbling through a desert as vultures circle awaiting a corpse to feast upon. Fear not, the album doesn't fall in quality from here. All the tracks aside from the intro run over five minutes, while in many cases this could be the ruin of a band on their debut it is not the case for Agga. Lord Of Babylon manages to hold your attention without loosening his grip throughout the whole forty minute playtime of the record.

The vocal attack featured here is fairly straightforward. They consist of shrieks belted out in a psychotic manner at times. Cleans come into the mix on occasion as well as some spoken word sections. The cleans are very reminiscent of those featured on Morbid Angel's Domination album, very deep and booming in terms of tone. The style fits the epic atmosphere the instrumental work sets up.

Though the drumming on the album is coming from a drum machine it doesn't take too much away from the overall vibe the album gives off. As usual a human drummer wouldn't hurt but in Agga's case the main focus isn't on the drum sound and little attention is shown. Essentially it just serves it's purpose, and that purpose is to keep the pace for the display of instrumental mastery that the rest of the elements featured are achieving.

Overall it's hard not to enjoy Agga's debut. When listening to the album the forty minutes flies by like nothing and leaves your mouth watering, but it's okay all you have to do is click the play button again. This release is highly recommended to any fan of metal in general. It really is a shame this band hasn't gained more exposure. Prepare yourself for a journey that only The Lord Of Babylon has the power to take you on...