Agreement

Fermentor

Overall, this was a solid listening experience. Some of the songs however were too short to really get much of a handle on, but the longer ones carried on just enough to make an impression. It just sounds to me like some jamming fun between two buddies.
July 24, 2025

From Bandcamp, “Agreement” is FERMENTOR’s second fully improvised album. The follow-up to their acclaimed album “Release Me,” FERMENTOR continues to forge their indelible musical connection with a spirit of creative experimentation and improvisation. Join the band as they vacillate naturally from massive heavy grooves and frenzied thrash to experimental looping and wandering jams.” The album has seventeen songs, but many of them are very short. Let’s get to some of the highlights on the album. “Wintry Earth” is close to four minutes long. The opening riff is legato, but changes to dark and accented. As more time passes, it grows thicker, and even tangled. “Dead Farm” features choppy bass notes and more of that darkness. It grows into a full blown monster when they riff enters.

“Ceratops” has a groove that is as choppy as churning seas, and some of the guitar notes go to unexpected, even dissonant areas. The band however plays each passing note tightly, and in unison. “Roach God” is another dissonant affair, and it even has somber tones, and brings up feelings of hopelessness at times. As it moves, it grows thicker and even more cumbersome, finally reaching a breaking point where it just shuts down. “Deactivated” is another song that dwells in the shadows, and in places you don’t want to visit. There is a whole other world going on there if you can stand the darkness. “There with That” moves back into the light a bit, with some major chords instead of minor ones, but not for long. It sees the staircase leading downwards, and it steers towards it once again.

“All Ashes” is the final song that I want to highlight, and it straddles a position between the light and shadows, occupying that space that some call magical. It has plenty of firm tones, but is also flexible. Overall, this was a solid listening experience. Some of the songs however were too short to really get much of a handle on, but the longer ones carried on just enough to make an impression. It just sounds to me like some jamming fun between two buddies.

7 / 10

Good

Songwriting

7

Musicianship

7

Memorability

6

Production

8
"Agreement" Track-listing:

1. Wintry Earth

2. Whisper Flesh

3. Dead Farm

4. Ceratops

5. More Than Eight

6. Ghost Girl

7. Roach God

8. Rotted

9. Deactivated

10. Agreement

11. There With That

12. Human Caterpillar

13. Transgression

14. Hides Behind Hands

15. Protohuman

16. Skybeam

17. All Ashes

 

Fermentor Lineup:

Dylan Marks – Drums

Adam "Wally" Wollach – Guitars

 

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