Review by Greg on December 2, 2023.

New millennium reunions are always a delicate subject, as I have no doubt that many people's only impulse to check out those so-called 'comeback' albums is complaining how the involved bands don't sound good anymore, if compared to when they had 20 years less on their shoulders. It may be true, but it's no use in making it the main point of your criticism. Of course, I'm aware of several records whose only effect was irreparably damaging entire discographies, but I don't think that's enough to avoid the whole category, especially when we're talking about an act which is enjoying its most fertile period after 2000. Canadian cult band Aggression is an easy example, given how they only managed to release a single album back in the day, 1987's The Full Treatment, notable for having probably the loudest bass tone ever recorded, among other things. You can imagine that stubbornly refusing to acknowledge releases not made during their original run would be particularly stupid, not least because the guys have long since moved on and delivered another three brand new LPs, the first of which, the here examined Fragmented Spirit Devils (2016), also showed how Aggression managed to tarnish their legacy the less.

The band is now made up of new faces only, guitarist Denis "Sasquatch" Barthe aside, and that no doubt explains the huge stylistic shift that most of the album displays (more on that later). Once a very coarse, heavily hardcore punk-influenced thrash band, Aggression has now made a u-turn towards very different territories. I don't know if new vocalist Brian Langley's short tenure with Infernäl Mäjesty might have had something to do with it, but Fragmented Spirit Devils fully dives into a newfound death metal aesthetic, already evident from the predictable, and a bit silly, intro 'At Play in the Fields of Satan'. Once the band starts playing, though, it's another story. Opener 'Chapel of Horrors' is a grand declaration of intents, passing through a marching intro, a sinister tremolo riff, a punky transition and a literally intense death metal chorus ('Chapel of horrors... welcome to Hell'). I especially loved the riff changes under the solo, before going back to the carnage. Again, there's a lot of new blood in Aggression now, but hearing an 'old' band sound so fresh, instead of insisting on half-assed attempts to regain relevance, is inspiring.

Now, a load blown too early? Oh no, my friend, not at all. 'Unleashing the Ghost' changes precisely zero awesome things the opener had – possibly adding another one, the almost black metal-esque, blasts-driven incredible chorus. After another goofy, wannabe-demonic interlude, which still reveals a fairly smooth solo underneath all the inarticulate growling and similar nonsense, 'Halo of Maggots' awaits us, and it's another massacre in barely more than 3 minutes. The chorus is so stupidly simple I couldn't help but love it. Also 'Furnace Creek' ain't half bad, even if just a bit on the overlong side and possibly the first episode not entirely on par with the rest. At this point in the tracklist, I was eager to announce that Aggression had managed to shed every punk influence in favour of something way more focused and serious, and maybe even to write their absolute masterpiece so late in their career...

...I was wrong. Dammit! From the almost Enforcer-like 'Dark Shadow Crossing' to the punky re-recording of the old 'Evil Pox', passing through the no more than decent 'Strangulation Ejaculation', Fragmented Spirit Devils offers the most unexpected quality drop at its very tail. If the closing cover of 'Razamanaz' is any indication, Aggression arguably didn't want to keep that uber-serious atmosphere for the entire LP, even if I, for one, fail to imagine any possible downsides of doing that. It's infinitely cool that the late Nazareth guitarist Manny Charlton appears on it, though. Yet, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. Sort of.

Of course, I'm not forgetting all the hugely positive things I said, because we're talking about old dogs who have easily obliterated a plethora of mediocre albums made by youngsters around, demonstrating you can still play thrash in 2016, as long as you know how to do it. The way things stand, Fragmented Spirit Devils unfortunately ends up being only half a masterpiece, but that half is a mandatory listen.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10