Artist: Agonoize
Album: Hexakosioihexekontahexa
Label: Out of Line
Genre: Industrial/Harsh EBM
Reviewer: Zaanan Foreman
Rating: 3 out of 5

Another mouthful from the Industrial Clown Posse.

Similar to 2007’s Sieben, Mike Johnson and his elektro drama kings need 2 discs to state their case for industrial supremacy, most of which could’ve and should’ve been stated on one. The band hits its intended target by ripping through “Bis Das Blut Gefriert,” “Vollrauschfetischist” and “Rituale Romanum” in their typical self-styled “hellektro” formula, throttling out hi-octane string synths over heavy handed percussion, backed with Johnson spewing tongue-in-cheek, profanity laden invectives. Then, the cavalcade of confounding tracks follow, executed in their typical hellektro formula: the dreary and self-indulgent “I Am” is a prime example of what has crippled Agonoize in the past, with tragic grade-school lyrics that are composed to evoke a strong emotional response, only I don’t think overwhelming laughter is one of them.

Disc 2 actually manages to redeem the group, presenting a stronger array of sonic cohesion, “Ohnetitel” is a solid monument to the vaunted body music genre, even the manic ironic pleading of “Pornomagcenterfold” resonates with a great deal more compositional intensity than similar attempts on Disc 1.

Arguably, a lot of what appears on Hexakosioihexekontahexa could be classified as mere filler, especially the majority of Disc 1. Eliminate the throwaway tracks and the remainder is a multitudinous output that any EBM band would kill to produce. An ear-catching start and an adventurous conclusion, unfortunately bookends numerous flashes of tonal banality.