The Space Agency Scam

The Space Agency Scam… never fell for that one back then; never learnt to trust these fuckin’ aliens… all those promises for idyllic paradise-like living, for carefree jobless existence, for blissful money-less society, for free-flowing full-of-passion alienesses… they couldn’t even show me photos of the latter, for crying out loud! I wanted to know what I was selling my soul for… screw them… and amen to those who flew to galaxies far far away, looking for all these pleasures.

Never fell for this band’s supposed death metal stint, either… I kind of knew that they couldn’t possibly upgrade their steady but rudimentary classic power/speed/thrashy conglomerate to such brutal parametres; well they did, but only in the guttural shouty vocal department as on the music front we only have one track (“The Possession Tactic”) from the “The Death Metal” EP that truly belongs to this genre. The rest is decent frivolous retro thrash/crossover which received a faithful sequel in the form of the “Escaping the Matrix” EP.

Enough with the EP’s, someone said; and enough with the crossover… that last sentence I haven’t heard anyone say, but yeah, let’s phase out these new ingredients, and see if the guys could pull out another expected but competently performed power/speed/thrash compendium. Cause if they really want to escape the matrix, their old ways may as well be the more fitting shortcut to that…

the gruff vociferous deathy vocals remain, but on the music front we have quite a revelation witnessed. The band have moved towards the more challenging, progressive side of the spectre, and have come up with a highly enjoyable uplifting fare, a proggy speed/thrashy blend which at least on the title-track is more on the conventional headbanging side. Comes "COVID-1984 (Realm-Wide Plandemic)", however, also to reminds us of the plague that has been roaming around us recently, and the setting comes alive with constantly overlapping rhythms, impossibly catchy melodies, and some dense inspired thrashing. The spacey complex mood also stays around for the few more brutal proto-deathy escapades ("The Ventilator Murders"), the goofy crossover jump-arounder "Bubbles in Space" bringing memories of both the Swiss Lunacy and mid-period Voivod to mind. With the ambitious title of "Model Ship Cartoons That You Think Are Real" also arrives some tight entangled progressive shredding as well, with frequent time and tempo shifts, more memorable melodic hooks, and dazzling lead sections. To those who may have found this last composition a bit hard to swallow, the band provide its concise version, "Staged Alien Invasion", a short frenetic ride which constantly changes pace and rhythms to a sizeable hallucinogenic effect.

The more linear moments ("Space Farce", "Civilization Reset") belong to the more psychedelic side of the thrash/crossover arena, and are short frolic jump-arounders, adding more to the frivolous atmosphere. This album is obviously not meant to be taken seriously, just follow the hilarious lyrics for a further proof of that, but it’s in the somewhat nonchalant execution that its main asset lies: free of any rigid stylistic shackles, the band give full freedom to their creativity, and come up with something pleasantly contrived, thickly technical on occasion, infectiously melodic, all this effortlessly performed, by no means following any scholastic guidance. At the same time this isn’t a radical departure from the band’s first two couple of albums; the speed/thrashy boundaries haven’t been violated beyond recognition... it’s just that these unorthodox riff-patterns and volatile restless rhythm-sections haven’t been applied in that same symbiotic, also summative manner before in the guys’ repertoire, opening new vistas before them.

But even as a warning against this notorious Space Agency Scam this opus should be heard at least once; you can’t possibly miss out on the moralistic, didactic lyrics permeating this recording. But you have to be able to read between the lines… and to listen between the riffs… the only proven ways to get you out of the matrix, and to make you immune against all nefarious alien abductions.