With Agreement (August 15th), Fermentor closes out their trilogy of improvised releases by doing what few bands would dare and that’s trusting raw instinct over meticulous planning. Across the seventeen tracks, the duo transforms the limitations of two instruments into a vast and unpredictable musical language, where every moment feels like a tightrope act between chaos and control.
Part of the album’s strength lies in the sheer variety of approaches within a purely guitar-and-drums framework. Opener “Wintry Earth” immediately sets the tone with jagged time signatures and an icy descent into brutal death metal, while “Ceratops” demonstrates their ability to build patiently by morphing from a meditative calm into a tectonic and crushing climax. Fermentor aren’t afraid to shift gears mid-song, as heard in “Whisper Flesh,” which pivots sharply between blast-heavy intensity and weighty grooves.
The band’s improvisational nature means that imperfections aren’t just tolerated, they’re weaponized. “Roach God” becomes an authentic snapshot of risk and discovery, while “Human Caterpillar” turns a technical mishap into an avant-garde highlight. It’s this willingness to embrace unpredictability that gives Agreement a human and breathing quality often missing from instrumental metal.
Fermentor also shows an ear for pacing. Tracks like “Hides Behind Hands” and closer “All Ashes” introduce moments of restraint and reflection by preventing the record from becoming an unbroken wall of aggression. Meanwhile, “Protohuman” and “Skybeam” push their death-thrash roots to the limit before giving way to the final and meditative exhale.
Improvised albums can easily lose focus, but Agreement feels like a guided freefall. The chemistry between Dylan Marks and Adam “Wally” Wollach is so instinctive that even in the most chaotic passages the music feels purposeful. As Adam said,
We aren’t trying to be the crustiest crust band, we want to blend a bunch of styles together to make something fun and energetic to play live.
That ethos is written into every note. This isn’t just an impressive technical feat but a record that thrives on risk, celebrates accidents, and turns two instruments into a self-contained ecosystem of ideas. With Agreement, Fermentor proves that improvisation, when done with trust and precision, can be as narratively gripping as any scripted composition.
