In the way back of 1918 one of the most challenging novels ever to be penned in the English canon started to be serialized the avant-garde American journal, The Little Review. That novel, of course, was Ulysses by James Joyce. In its time, Joyce was vilified and Ulysses widely misunderstood. The book was banned in both the UK and the US. It took a court ruling to overturn that. A little over a century later a musical interpretation of Ulysses has been crafted by an Experimental Black/Sludge Metal trio, AGENBITE MISERY, out of New Hampshire. The album, Remorse of Conscience, is scheduled to debut in February 2026, promoted by C Squared PR. While the album is unlikely to be banned, there's something befitting about such a challenging literary work being translating to an equally challenging medium—extreme metal.

AGENBITE MISERY formed a slight three years ago in 2022. In the band's words, they "began with a deceptively simple idea: to adapt James Joyce's Ulysses into an experimental metal album." Anyone who has read the novel can attest to the sheer boldness of that aspiration. Joyce himself said that he sought to "put in so many enigmas and puzzles that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring [sic] one's immortality." Undeterred, the band has been dropping demos and singles since 2023 on their journey to the final production of Remorse of Conscience.

According to the band, their moniker heralds back to "a line in Ulysses that references the 14th-century English devotional text Agenbite of Inwit. The phrase, literally 'again-bite of inner wit,' or modernized as 'remorse of conscience,'" thus constructing a seamless loop back to the title of the album and overall purpose of the band and also a "perfect thematic and philosophical framework for an album steeped in grief, alienation, and the search for meaning in modern life."

As for the album itself, Remorse of Conscience comprises eight tracks and spans almost 56 minutes. In comparison, Ulysses is divided into three parts and 18 episodes and takes most readers a couple of lifetimes to read—part for the length but more so because of sheer complexity. Sonically speaking, the music "blends blackened sludge, dissonant death metal, post-punk, ambient drone." Vocals, contributed by all members, are harsh and on the banshee screeching side. This is augmented by sections of spoken word. Riffs are blackened and down-tuned, though never quite to Doom proportions. Lyrics come directly from Joyce. Although rife with dissonance there is a surprising amount of internal consistency, with the movements rarely shifting to contradictory spaces.

Standout tracks will of course vary according to the listeners' taste, but here's a quick breakdown of my favs: First, the opening track "Telemachean Echoes" which aptly kicks off with a storm of feedback before shifting to a Punk/Thrash rant punctuated by heavy Death punches and culminating in a frenetic fit of distortion and angst. Perfect salvo. Second on my list is "A Charitable View of Temporary Insanity" for its multifaceted landscape. This track just goes everywhere with field recordings, spoken word, grayscale ambience highlighted with a surprising warm bass, and, of course, brutal surges of Sludge and Death.

Final on my list is "The Twice Charred Path of Musing Disciples." This brief ambient piece lands near the end of the album defying the interlude trope. I love the disparity of this track to the rest of the album. Throughout the piece you're just waiting for the sky to fall or bottom to drop, but neither happens. A perfect respite from the six previous tracks of chaos. I also really enjoyed "Whatness of Allhorse" which has been captured as an early single and video.

Does Remorse of Conscience fully capture the totality of Ulysses? Of course not. It's an interpretation, a translation. Does it capture the essence? Probably. Again, it's all dependent upon the person who is experiencing it. Does it stand as an intriguing and apt homage to one of the most challenging literary masterpieces in the known canon. Without a doubt. It's also an outstanding artifact of Blackened Experimental metal. Highly recommended to that not-so-rare intersection of literature geeks and metalheads.