The changes in some band's line-up can cause great distresses between them and the fans, because some can't accept the idea of seeing their favorite bands with a different musician. This notion gets extreme when we are speaking about a band widely known and the vocalist, just remember how IRON MAIDEN fans complained (I prefer to say that they were crying and shedding tears) a lot when Blaze Bayley was in the band (despise in his times singing gave birth to two excellent albums). Personally, Big Daddy just watched this all and didn't get involved in such childish things.

What can we hear on "Five," the new THE AGONIST album, and their second since the vocalist Alissa White-Gluz left, and Vicky Psarakis took the duty on her hands? Well, the band is doing fine work indeed, with their main musical personality untouched. The musical technique of bass guitar, drums and guitars is not as extreme as before, because they focused great part of their musical efforts in the contrast between aggressive moments and melodic ones (an important part of the core of their musical identity). It still sounds melodic and modern as they did in the past, but a bit different. But their music is still very good as always. The sound quality of the album is good, a fine work from Mike Plotnikoff (producer of the album, and the one who made the mixing) and Maor Appelbaum (mastering). Yes, they get a pretty good production that balanced the parts of their musical identity in a very good way, keeping the aggressiveness and weight untouched, but made something clean, but not as cleaner as on their past albums.

THE AGONIST is different, exploring new limits of their musical identity, and "Five" has some good songs, as the aggressive and intense "The Chain" (great work from bass guitar and drums, and great chorus), the technical work from guitars on "The Anchor and the Sail", the introspective melodies on "The Game" (with very good use of vocal contrasts on the chorus), the hooking tempos from "The Ocean" (it seems an accessible song, with very good melodies), the excellent and introspective "The Raven Eyes" (with fine clean chords' arrangements), the violent insight presented on "The Resurrection" (the more aggressive track of the entire album, even with these melodic voices in some moments) and on "The Villain" (this one presents another very good chorus). And on the Japanese version of "Five", you have two bonus tracks: the melodically intense "Take Me to the Church", and the acoustic version for "The Raven Eyes", that are very good. Well, if "Five" can't be said as THE AGONIST finest moment, it's a very good album.