Translating the prose of James Joyce’s Ulysses into visceral music, Remorse of Conscience by Agenbite Misery moves beyond mere adaptation and into an exploration of sorrow.
“Telemachean Echoes” is a quick burst of brutality that establishes a tone of internal shame before it transitions into “Cascara Sagrada” where the music’s time signatures twist and turn into a sense of dread. While 13-minute “A Charitable View of Temporary Insanity” flickers between ambient and doom laden riffs, the song focuses on grief and the often procedural handling of death.
The industrial energy of “Whatness of Allhorse” naturally leads into guitar centric “Bellwether and Swine” and the trippy black metal vibes of “Circe”. While the album is genre diverse, there is a metal cohesion through it all. Even the synth filled “The Twice-Charred Paths of Musing Disciples” and noisy “Mnesterophonia” all fit under the aural storytelling of a classic piece.
Like its inspiration, Remorse of Conscience is surely destined to follow in the footsteps and be an album that inspires its own stories, concepts, and reinventions. It shows not only the power of music, but particularly the genre of metal isn’t just growls and speed, but depth and storytelling that can move one just as much as the literary world can.
