Last Agony Premiere “Dogs Death” from Upcoming LP Death Wave

I first became acquainted with Toronto’s Last Agony through their pummeling self-titled EP in 2020. Knowing the band featured members of Absolut, Nuclear Power Genocide, and IDNS gave me a basic idea of what to expect, but their blackened crust ferocity immediately grabbed me. This was intense metallic crust without the need to slow for a second, drawing equally from Japanese crasher noise, speed metal, and grindcore barbarity. Their debut LP, The Imminent Slaughter, doubled down on that bleak sonic terror, and I’ve been looking forward to hearing where they would take it next.

On October 23, Last Agony return with Death Wave, bringing nine tracks of corrosive, berserker crust punk and metal to tape, CD, and LP through Sentient Ruin Laboratories. Today, we’re premiering “Dogs Death,” the third track from the upcoming record.

Clocking in at just 1:45, “Dogs Death” delivers an impenetrable wall of noise and d-beats, with vocals that sound like agonizing screams from a bottomless pit. Last Agony keep things simple and effective. They’re far more concerned with sounding as grim and brutal as possible than finding a clever way to set themselves apart from other bands. This music is all about speed and sheer ugliness, and neither needs to be interrupted.

The lyrics are equally stripped down. Crawling in the dirt, digging your own grave, and being left for dead: there’s barely a line that offers anything beyond suffering and abandonment. It leaves you with the sense of someone discarded, with even the possibility of care or affection turned into something cruel. Those infernal screams from Last Agony’s singer suit the foreboding lyrics perfectly.

I haven’t heard Death Wave in full, so I won’t pretend this is an album review. But if “Dogs Death”, and previously streamed title track, is anything to go by, I’m expecting another scorcher with no room for being nice from start to finish. Last Agony sound as bleak and unforgiving as ever, which is exactly why fans of dark, misanthropic music will find this one of the most anticipated records this year.

I’m glad they asked DIY Conspiracy to premiere this track, though I’ve always had reservations about individual song premieres. I’m all for a release-day deep dives or an exclusive full album stream the day before the release, but advance tracks is much harder to justify when so many bands already have physical records out that we haven’t had time to cover. The constant barrage of new singles, videos, and band announcements fuels an attention economy that propels us toward the next thing before we’ve had the opportunity to fully appreciate and explore what’s already available.

I hate being bombarded with teasers and content made for short attention spans, even from labels that I like. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but making an exception for Last Agony while ignoring “track premiere” requests from other bands and labels feels inconsistent. I like this band enough to write this piece, but that doesn’t settle my concerns. Individual track premieres won’t ever become a regular thing here, and I’d still rather spend that time discussing complete records.

For now, here’s one minute and 45 seconds of Last Agony making a convincing case for hearing the rest.

Death Wave is out October 23 through Sentient Ruin Laboratories. Preorder the album from Sentient Ruin Laboratories or their Bandcamp page.