Agnostic Front Offers Audiences A Solid New Album In ‘Echoes In Eternity’

By: Philip Sayblack

Agnostic Front, the veteran punk outfit that helped established the New York Hardcore scene, will launch a new tour next month in support of its brand-new album, Echoes in Eternity.  Set to kick off Dec. 4 in Cambridge, MA, the tour will come on the heels of the band’s recently completed tour alongside Strung Out, Murphy’s Law, and La Armada and will see the band joined by Raw Brigade and Violent Way as support.  Speaking of the album that the tour will support, the band released that new 15-song record Friday through Reigning Phoenix Music.  The band’s 13th album, it is a brief presentation at only 27 minutes long, but it still offers plenty of punch in that small space, as is evidenced in part through its musical arrangements.  The lyrical themes that accompany said content make for their own interest.  The record’s production puts the finishing touch to the whole.  Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of the album.  All things considered they make Echoes in Eternity a record that Agnostic Front’s established audiences will appreciate as much as more casual punk fans.
Echoes in Eternity, the brand-new album from Agnostic Front is a positive new offering from the veteran hardcore punk outfit that is sure to appeal to a wide range of audiences.  That appeal is due in no small part to the record’s featured musical arrangements.  Spanning a brief 27 minutes, the arrangements in question are everything that established listeners have come to expect from the band.  All of the force, all of the melodic elements, all of the punch that the band has patented through its pounding arrangements throughout its four-plus decades is on full display throughout the record’s nearly half-hour presentation.  Late in the album, listeners can make a comparison to works from the likes of Hatebreed in the album’s finale, ‘Eyes Open Wide’ while comparisons to the band’s fellow NYC Hardcore scene acts Madball and Cro-Mags are just as much on display. 
What is even more interesting about the album’s arrangements is that over the course of the record’s short run time they still pack so much of a punch.  The longest of the arrangements (in ‘Matter of Life and Death’) clocks in at just under two-and-a-half minutes, and even then it still feels like the song reaches into the three-minute-plus mark.  That is a testament to the band’s ability to strongly structure its songs.  It is just one of the examples of that real talent with composing the record’s works.  Throughout the record, the brief songs all bear that mark and collectively the result is that they give the album such substantive nature.
Building on the appeal of its arrangements is the record’s lyrical content.  The lyrical themes featured throughout the album are just as familiar as the album’s musical arrangements.  That is because once again, from one to the next, they present all of the band’s familiar social and sociopolitical commentaries.  Right from the record’s outset audiences get one of those sociopolitical commentaries in ‘Way of War,’ which is also one of the album’s singles.  The band made that clear in a prepared statement upon the single’s debut in late September.  The statement read, “The track is very much a sign of the times!  How the corrupt politicians’ greed pulls us and many other nations into senseless wars.  These actions unfortunately come with casualties that civilians never call for.  It’s the way of war.”  This statement is made clear as front man Roger Miret sings directly in the song’s lead verse and chorus, “The way of war/Politicians’ game/Behind the walls/There’s a prize to claim/Out the door/We send our young to die/Fight some more/Won’t give peace a try/They all look away/They won’t face their enemy/Don’t reap what they sow/It’s the way of war.”  This relatively straight forward message is hardly the first of its kind.  Anti-war protests are the stuff of so many songs going all the way back to the 1960s but even here and now, such a protest piece is welcome in its own right.  To that end, the message is just one example of what makes the album’s lyrical content stand as important as the album’s musical arrangements.
On a much lighter note, ‘Sunday Matinee,’ the album’s latest single, which the band premiered Friday, is a much more positive piece.  According to Miret, “In this song, we celebrate the gathering of friends and the joyous times when we all looked forward to our Sunday matinee.  Specifically, the days gone of the ‘classic’ CBGB Sunday lineups, where we made lifelong bonds with show attendees and all the visiting hardcore/punk bands!  Basically, true social media at its finest.” 
Miret even sings directly of this topic in the song as he states in the chorus, “We are all together at the Sunday matinee/Hanging on the corner of Bleeker and Bowery/Here we are together/Our favorite bands will play/Can’t wait for the Sunday matinee/here we go/Can you feel the energy/Here we go/Follow me to the show.”  This is exactly what he was talking about.  It is that positive vibe that he addressed in his comment.  For listeners, it can lead them to think back to their own positive memories, which is a good thing.  In an age such as this, when people need something about which to feel good, this song’s theme could easily give people just that, their own positive memories of good times with friends.  Keeping that in mind, this song is yet one more example of the importance of the album’s lyrical themes.
Still one more example of the album’s strong lyrical themes comes in the form of ‘Hell To Pay.’  Serving as part of the album’s second half, the song is one of those forceful declarations of determination; of refusing to let someone else hold a person down.  This is inferred as Miret sings, “I couldn’t care for your opinion/I couldn’t care for your existence/I’ve persevered without your clout/F*** around/Find out/I’m not here for salvation/I’m here to conquer my expectations/The fire’s in me/I just won’t stop/F*** around/Find out!/No failure/No fear/Let me make my intentions clear/There’s hell to pay/If you dare to cross me!”  Yes, this is somewhat along the lines of what audiences get from Biohazard’s latest album (that band is another of Agnostic’s contemporaries, so it should come as no surprise here), but there is something about the way in which this message is delivered here that makes it harder hitting than in the case of Biohazard’s new album.  The strong message continues in similar fashion in the song’s second verse and chorus.  Keeping that in mind, the overall theme here is sure to empower plenty of listeners, which further shows the strength of the album’s lyrical themes.  When this theme and the others are considered along with the rest of the album’s lyrical content that whole leaves no doubt as to the role of said content in the bigger picture of this record. 
Rounding out the most important of the album’s elements is its presentation.  As has been noted already, the arrangements featured throughout this album are powerful from one to the next.  That means that the fullest attention had to be given to each song’s balance so that no one performance overpowered those of the other musicians at any point.  The result therein was success in each composition.  In the bigger picture, the positive impact of the production is a positive aesthetic for the record’s presentation; an aesthetic that when coupled with the overall content, makes for that much more reason for audiences to take in this record.  In the end, all things considered leave Echoes in Eternity a record that Agnostic Front’s audiences will appreciate just as much as more casual punk fans.
Echoes in Eternity, the 13th album from Agnostic Front, is a presentation that makes itself worth hearing at least once.  It is a mostly positive presentation, thanks in part to its featured musical arrangements.  The arrangements are of note because of their accessibility and familiarity among established audiences and even more casual listeners.  The lyrical themes that accompany said content are just as familiar and accessible, albeit in their own way.  The record’s production puts the finishing touch to the whole, ensuring a positive aesthetic impact.  Each element examined is important in its own way to the whole of the album.  All things considered they make Echoes in Eternity a record that casual punk fans and Agnostic Front’s established audiences alike will appreciate.
Echoes in Eternity is available now.  More information on the album is available along with all of Agnostic Front’s latest news at:
Website: https://agnosticfront.com
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