FERMENTOR’s latest sonic experiment, Agreement, drops August 15th, 2025. This 17-track instrumental album concludes a trilogy of improvised releases, following Mind Meld and Release Me. Agreement pushes their boundary-defying blend of blistering death metal and sprawling, freeform post-rock to new extremes, delivering cinematic brutality and storytelling without words through instinct-driven chemistry.
The album opens with “Wintry Earth,” a bleak, droning descent marked by jagged time signatures, eerie guitar textures, and a brutal death metal finale that sets a tense, violent tone. “Whisper Flesh” follows, a raw improvisation where dissonant loops and jagged grooves shift between blast-heavy death metal and crushing, groove-laden choruses, spiraling into ritualistic heaviness.
“Dead Farm” and “Ceratops” offer contrasting explorations of heaviness. “Dead Farm” channels the primal force of SEPULTURA, seismic pulse of GOJIRA, and progressive sludge of MASTODON with groove-driven intensity. Meanwhile, “Ceratops” unfolds slowly from meditative calm into a cathartic, tectonic climax, showcasing the band’s dynamic range from muscular aggression to patient build.
“More Than Eight” dives into FERMENTOR’s signature improvised chaos, layering guitar loops instinctively over shifting rhythms. “Ghost Girl” ventures further into experimental territory, blurring meditative post-rock and thunderous groove metal with spiraling solos and ethereal textures.
“Roach God” captures raw vulnerability through imperfect, high-wire improvisation where mistakes become defining characteristics – an authentic snapshot of risk and discovery. “Rotted” is a relentless, riff-driven brutal death metal descent, free of loops and culminating in a monstrous breakdown forged in pure instinct.
“Deactivated” builds angular chaos with dissonant grooves, shifting time signatures, and a searing solo, exploding into a triumphant finale. The title track “Agreement” is a study in tension and release, layering palm-muted guitars over hypnotic loops, culminating in a crushing halftime outro, a seismic exhale of raw improvisation and controlled chaos.
“There With That” blends cinematic instincts and epic metal grandeur, balancing atmosphere and intensity with emotional clarity. “Human Caterpillar” immortalizes a glitching guitar pedal feedback during an improvisation, turning technical failure into a chaotic, avant-garde Easter egg and a tongue-in-cheek highlight released on April Fools’ Day.
“Transgression” blasts with thrash-rooted energy, tight cymbal chokes and groove-drenched riffs channeling the band’s early chemistry and old-school aggression. “Hides Behind Hands” offers a rare breath of melancholic reflection, trading brutality for beauty through shimmering loops and restrained percussion, inviting pause and introspection.
“Protohuman” is a kaleidoscopic hybrid of swirling loops, jagged rhythms, and pulverizing eruptions that merge FERMENTOR’s death-thrash roots with fearless experimentation. “Skybeam” unleashes a deafening blast of explosive energy, a chaotic tempest signaling the album’s climax.
Finally, “All Ashes” winds down with reflective melodies and subtle textures, a sonic exhale that gathers Agreement’s sprawling journey into a poignant, meditative farewell.
Agreement stands as a bold testament to FERMENTOR’s fearless embrace of improvisation, raw emotion, and genre-defying exploration. Through blistering death metal, expansive post-rock, and moments of beautiful imperfection, the album captures a journey of friendship, risk, and creative discovery. It invites listeners into a world where chaos and control coexist, forging a powerful, unspoken narrative that lingers long after the final note fades. This is more than an album. It is an immersive experience that challenges expectations and redefines the boundaries of instrumental music.
FERMENTOR is:
- Dylan Marks – Drummer
- Adam “Wally” Wollach – Guitarist
ABOUT FERMENTOR:
FERMENTOR is a San Diego-based two-piece instrumental metal band formed in 2008 by drummer Dylan Marks (ATHEIST, BEEKEEPER) and guitarist Adam “Wally” Wollach (BEEKEEPER, TRASHAXIS). Stripping away the comforts of a traditional band infrastructure, FERMENTOR relies solely on communicating through only two elements; drums and guitar. The two instruments acting more like contrapuntal voices, rather than just rhythm and melody.
Their musical chemistry was discovered in the summer of 2008 when the two cousins took advantage of an opening at Wollach’s recording studio. Having never collaborated before and with only four weeks to write and record, they created their first EP entitled Matanzaa.
After a brief period of living on opposite coasts, the duo regrouped and began to push their writing to a new level. With a newfound control of their unique synchronicity, they released two EPs; 2011’s self-titled album Fermentor and its follow up, Rate of Cognition in 2015.
They quickly garnered a reputation for their explosive and unrelenting high-energy performances atypical of a duo, earning them the opportunities to share the stage with other experimental powerhouses such as BEHOLD!…THE ARCTOPUS, ATOMIC APE, and CAPTURE BY ROBOTS.
In 2020, they released their first full-length album Continuance. A highly creative and progressive album. Continuance plays with the listener’s ear by subverting expectations of tonality and song structure. This critically hailed record is bursting with intricate timings, propulsive arrangements, and unconventional riffing. It also marked the release of FERMENTOR’s first music videos, most notably the incredible video for “Seventh Circle”, premiered by Decibel, which saw the duo in a high-energy pursuit of a mysterious orb.
2023 saw the band continuing to push their abilities as well as the conventions of instrumental metal with the release of their next full-length album, Mind Meld. Engineered at Singing Serpent Studios by Ben Moore (TERA MELOS, RETOX) and recorded, mixed, and mastered again by Wollach, Mind Meld showcases the growth and maturity of the duo as well as boasting the highest quality recordings of FERMENTOR’s catalog so far. Additionally, the band employed a unique approach by self-recording everything live, without click tracks or additional layers. Mind Meld received major critical acclaim, beloved by existing FERMENTOR fans as well as reaching many new fans through emphasis on more music videos and footage from the studio.
In 2024, FERMENTOR embarked on the FermenTOUR, traveling along the West Coast introducing new audiences to their unique brand of instrumental music.
In January 2025, FERMENTOR continued to challenge themselves and their fans with their latest album, Release Me. 17 tracks of brand new songs completely improvised in the studio, Release Me spans numerous genres, employs live looping and layering in single takes, resulting in the most diverse and innovative music of FERMENTOR’s career. To share the record with the world, FERMENTOR released a song from the album every week for 17 weeks until the date of the album release with accompanying music videos and footage from the studio, massively increasing their reach and acclaim.
Of course, FERMENTOR does not stop there! Relentless in their output, FERMENTOR is announcing yet ANOTHER 17-track, all-improvised album, entitled Agreement. The first track dropped just two weeks after Release Me.
Agreement continues FERMENTOR’s pursuit of unique and highly creative instrumental music, further cementing their use of looping and defiance of genre. Again the group will be releasing a song per week from the record along with music videos and documentation of the recording process.
FERMENTOR will hit the road again in 2025, as they remain ever dedicated to spreading their music and artistic vision to the world!
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