AGATHA’S LATEST SINGLE VANTA/DELIVERANCE IS SERIOUSLY HEAVY
Upon first spin, there’s an ominous sense of a dark, foreboding gloom n’ doom that’s about to be unleashed – as stabs of metallic bass alternate with chunky riffs and are anchored by a furious drum pattern that’s reminiscent of the tried-and-tested formula of menacing rhythms and dynamics from decades ago.
Truly, it has been a while since we’ve heard such a sound – at least not in the commercial space of current modern rock, now that the genre is arguably getting lighter and being fused with all kinds of styles and ethics. Not that it’s a bad thing, no – but it just seems that everything’s gone formulaic for the time being.
But not for AGATHA, no… it seems that the trio – songwriter/guitarist Dean Russell, bassist Emerson Figueroa and drummer Ian Joseph – is taking cue from current music and unapologetically pushing the envelope the opposite way, whether audiences like it or lump it. In fact, listeners of all kinds can definitely hear it with the band’s latest offering “Vanta/Deliverance,” which serves a much-needed sonic-direct punch-in-the-face, enough to ignite images of sonic violence and erupting mosh pits… it just might be the battle cry for the genre this 2023.
“We wanted to create a heavier, darker and more straightforward sound this time that was not tied to the legacy of the older songs,” says de-facto band leader Russell, who also shares that the songwriting process took an entire year. “I was struggling with alcohol abuse and anxiety back then, I set a really high bar on myself because I wanted the new music to surpass everything I had done previously – I was frustrated that my creative well was dried-up, so that’s when inspiration hit: I had read in an article that the word ‘Vanta’ referred to the darkest shade of black – the ‘blackest of black’ if you will… and that’s where I got the title of the song.”
Originally a one-man studio project that morphed into a full-blown social experiment – complete with backstory and fictional key figures to keep anonymity – it’s with the release of “Vanta/Deliverance” wherein Russell found like-minded musicians to share the journey with. “The goal right now is to play as much as we can,” begins Russell when asked about Agatha’s immediate plans after the release of the single. “’Vanta’ is definitely part of a bigger picture, as a full album is in the works, but we’re choosing our battles carefully – it’s all about small wins for the time-being.” PULP
You can listen to “Vanta/Deliverance” here:
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