Witching Chronicles: Exploring The DRUNKEN CROCODILES’ Aegony

There’s a certain energy that only comes from a band that’s been through the wringer – lineup shifts, lost time, the whole cycle of breaking apart and clawing their way back. Aegony sounds like a record born from that struggle. It’s unfiltered, urgent, and absolutely refuses to play by modern production’s rules. No artificial shine, no digital patchwork – just three musicians locked in, pushing air, and bleeding into the tape.

Stoner, Sludge, Heavy Psych – it’s all in there, but instead of riding on genre tropes, they twist and stretch them into something that feels restless, almost unpredictable. Long, hypnotic passages dissolve into chaotic, skull-crushing riffs. Melodies drift in like a mirage, only to get swallowed by this massive, oppressive weight. There’s a tension in the way the songs move, a push-and-pull between trippy atmosphere and sheer brute force. It never feels like they’re just jamming for the sake of it—there’s something deliberate about every shift, every freak-out, every moment of restraint.

The decision to go fully analog – no reamping, no triggers, no post-production surgery – is a rare kind of commitment these days, but it pays off. The drums crack and breathe, the bass snarls, the guitars feel alive, shifting between scorched distortion and eerie, spaced-out echoes. It’s a sound that exists in the moment, the kind of thing that makes you want to see it live, just to feel the air shake.

Lyrically and conceptually, Aegony digs into the damage of unchecked ego – the way it festers, destroys, isolates. But instead of just spelling it out, the music lets you feel that weight. One moment, there’s this deep, meditative calm, and the next, everything collapses into a storm of noise. The record feels like it’s constantly wrestling with itself, moments of clarity drowning in distortion, anger boiling over into eerie quiet. It’s heavy, not just in sound but in feeling.

The cover of Aegony looks like a fever dream you can’t shake off – this warped, faceless figure wrapped in black-and-white coils, twisting against a backdrop of bleeding reds and raw, cracked textures. It feels trapped, like it’s either breaking apart or being pulled into something even worse. Just like the music, it’s ugly and mesmerizing at the same time, rejecting anything clean or polished. You can almost feel the tension, the way it ties into the album’s theme of ego spiraling out of control. It’s the first hit of the unease that Aegony leaves crawling under your skin.

It’s a record that doesn’t beg for attention; it demands it. Stoner and Sludge die-hards will get exactly what they’re after, but there’s something deeper at work here too – something that pulls you in, gets under your skin, and lingers long after the last note fades. It’s ugly, beautiful, and absolutely essential.

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Released by Octopus Rising on March 21, 2025
Music source for review – Grand Sounds PR