Customer Reviews

The Agony Scene

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is from an interview with the band:

The Agony Scene - is there any deeper meaning in your name? What are your lyrics about - your first full length was released on solid state records - a Christian label. Do you consider yourself as Christians?

We are not a Christian band, we've been asked a lot because of our relationship with our label here, but we're just a band trying to make a name for oursleves just like any other band. The lyrics are mostly dark imagery and metaphor about a relationship that our singer had that had gone bad. There are also several songs just about some of his personal experiences.

you ever buy a cd, love it for a long time, forget about it, then rediscover it and ask yourself why you ever let that cd leave your cd player? happens to me all the time, and unfortunately it happened with the agony scene. this cd is abolutely amazing. well, i will admit they went a little overboard with the stones cover, but other than that, there is not one thing wrong with this disc. i don't care about lyrics because that's really only a tiny part of what makes a good song. it's the music that should blow you away. and this music does blow me away. most of the time, the guitarists aren't playing the same thing, which just makes it sound cooler. never gonna forget about this band again. new record comes out soon. go get it.

let me start this off by saying im not under 13,i just don't want to bother making an account. now, the agony scene have gotten mixed reviews. some say they're repetive,but all the songs are very diverse (epecially creepy atmospheric track 6, Nausea). T.A.S. sound like Zao, but with raspier high pitched screams. the best tracks are: We Bury Our Dead at dawn (1), Lines of Suicide (4), Eyes Sewn Shut (5), Shotgun Wedding (7),and Vivid (8). I didn't enjoy The Agony Scene's take on The Rolling Stone's "Paint it Black", but if you want to hear a good cover of that song, listen to The Black dahlia Murder's version of it. It didn't get 5 stars because well,it only had 10 tracks, and i didn'tlike paint it black, and of course nothing is perfect, especially on a debut album. They've replaced some members, and signed to roadrunner records. look for their new albumcalled "The Darkest Red" sometime in 2005! i expect greatness from these guys, and its a great debut cd!

Before I start, I wrote a review for this yesterday, but for some apparent reason, Amazon didn't post it. So this is my second time writing this, and hopefully, it will get posted. Well, thanks to the success of Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage, the latest trend in metal is to take American hardcore and combine it with At The Gates/In Flames style riffs, thus making the genre metalcore. Here's a band following the same trend, The Agony Scene.

Anyways, their music can is pretty much your regular Swedish metalcore style. It's sort of like a more simpler version of Killswitch or Shadows Fall. There's double bass, there's the Swedish style riffs, just not as good as the two afromentioned bands. The vocalist, Mike, definitely takes you on a vocal extravenganza. Ranging from high-pitched screams to barking growls, at some points he makes Jesse Leach(ex- Killswitch Engage) sound like he's whispering. The first track, "We Bury Our Dead At Dawn", is very intense. With great double bass drumming, great riffs, and ungodly vocals, you'll be moshing around the house to this. The best track is "Eyes Sewn Shut." It starts with an unusual cowbell sound with some low-pitched riffs, then BAM, full blown hardcore. Fast drums, fast riffs, and vocals comparable to Dani Filth (Cradle of Filth). The drumming is spectacular. It's amazing how fast he could keeep up in it.

Anyways, the problem with this CD is that it's very repetitive. All the songs on here, including a weird cover of the Stones' classic "Paint It Black", are good. It's just it's like a "been there, done that" sort of thing. The Agony Scene will really have to step it up a notch to get recognized on their next album. Anyways, it's a decent debut, and will appeal to fans of the Swedish sound.

The Agony Scene excel in their respective genre of metalcore. Just like Bleeding Through, they have heaps of talent. The best song is "We bury our dead at dawn." I noticed that The Agony Scene produces songs that seam flawlessly together.(A quality I highly appreciate.) I higly anticipate their next release and hopefully will be the same caliber as this was. Kudos!

I went into this album with no biased, no reviews, no recommendations, nothing. I just heard the name and listened to it on a whim. Amazing album!

I absolutely love the screaming, it's different from all the unoriginal death metal growling out there, not to mention there is diversity displayed throughout the album.

The musicianship is awesome, I'm not saying they are the most original sound in the world but they play it well, and there's just something about this band that comes off as sounding fresh. I'm not really sure what's with all the gay labels (metalcore, emocore, hardcore, screamo, whatever they call it nowadays) but all I'm going to say is that I haven't been this excited for a band of this genre since my very first one, Alexisonfire. I think that, like Alexis, this band has sort of a "punk" edge to it that a lot of other bands are missing. Most of the other acts sound contrived and rehashed, but this is fresh, exciting, and raw.

As a huge metalcore/deathmetal fan I have to say this is a breathe of fresh air to this already overdone genre. From screech to scream TAS has seperated themselves from the group and come out on top. With raging vocals, pounding drums, and thrashy guitar riffs, this albumn is a blow to the chest. Heart pounding vocals is the biggest thing on the albumn. The singer demonstrates a wide array of screams and screeches from low growls to high pitched squeels. The guitars are never repetative and keep you racing through the disc. Drums keep you pounding for more. The only setback is the length of the albumn itself but it dosn't take away the greatness. I highly recommend TAS if you are a metalcore/deathmetal fan looking for something new.

Ok, yeah, definitely a great album. As always, i start with what I didn't like. A lot of people claim the guitar work here is brilliant, sorry, it's just not as good as it could be. They DO use some cool counterpoint-ish stuff and one rhythm against the other, but it's nothing too great. But that's ok, THE DRUMMER MAKES UP FOR IT ALL. Great drums, Adam D. gets a definite notch on his belt for the production here. The guitars are good, fitting the music, but could be better, because they're the only thing that makes the album at all repetitive. The songs are all very different if you take time to listen several times. The bass player is quite good, but he left, so hopefully the new guy will fill the shoes and maybe even up them a few sizes! And the vocalist gets my vote for screamer of the year. High black metal-ish screams, metal-core-ish growls, all great. The lyrics send shivers down the spine, in that horrific, beautiful way. Very poetic, but very gruesome. I love it! I don't know fully how Christian this band is, but I think it's definitely possible. They look sweet, too! Gothic-ish dress. Man, the vocals here are totally my inspiration as a screamer. Rumour has it they were a math metal band before, I wish there had been more of that on this release, but it shows up in a few odd-time-signature bars here and there and for a large part of "The Damned", the last song. My favorite is the quiet "Nausea", OH MAN IT KICKS! When he finally starts screaming, it's just awesome. Wow. I look forward to the next release, and hope the drums will be as well produced as they were this time. I just wish Living Sacrifice had this good of a kick tone. Dang! But so yeah, vocals and drums can't get better than here, guitars could improve just a tad but are in no way weak, and I'd like to see a little more diversity in the overall sound, maybe some sweet 7/8 or 13/8 or some nice cold 10/8. 5/4 would be nice too! Many say this album is nothing new. I disagree, I think it is a great new sound, one that can be developed into a masterpiece of ingenious metal. they lost one guitarist, makes me wish i were back in the states so I could audition! Hopefully whoever they get new on guitar will add the needed zest to propel these guys to the top. Savage, brutal, cold, and deadly: like a jackhammer tipped with a razorblade. Oh yeah!

I know little to nothing about these guys. I've never heard of them before the day I bought the CD and have no idea what scene they're affiliated with (well ok, a vague idea). So, let me explain how I ended up with album in my hands. Will probably be lengthy.

I just got back this morning from the first-year Joshua Fest at the Quincy, California fairgrounds (only got to see the first day, the second is going on right now, much to my dismay). I mainly went to support the band I was helping out--Silent Floor from Mt. Shasta, CA--and to see Extol, who I knew to be playing the same day. After Extol ended their set (my first time seeing them, kicked much arse) I ran back over to Silent Floor as they wrapped up. Afterwards we all walked around to see some other bands and lo and behold we came across the most extreme band there (next to Extol), The Agony Scene. I'm a big fan of the Scandinavian death/black metal scene and I was pleasantly surprised to hear a band playing that channeled the same sound and energy. As we approached, the singer was shrieking this high-pitched yell as he spat undistinguishable lyrics, when he quickly went to a nice low growl without missing a beat. This interested me, so we stayed for the rest of the set. And I must mention the bassist is the coolest guy ever, a cross between Michael Jackson and a chicken running around with no head. Funniest looking thing ever when he's playing, and the guy is extremely nice. As much as his antics are amusing, you can tell the guy is totally into the music and having fun. He often looked into the audience and growled along with the lyrics while doing his knee-bend, quite creepy.

On the CD, the band sounds a lot like lower-register (in terms of riffs) Swedish death metal bands, such as Carcass or In Thy Dreams. In fact these guys and ITD sound really similar: both feature no solos, have vocalists that alternate screams and growls, and have lots of energy. But whereas ITD often bores me after they play a couple good riffs then go into some sludge, The Agony Scene is quite fun to listen to, especially after seeing them perform live for the first time. The riffs sound like they're pulled out of the Swedish bag, but thankfully without the trademark chord progression that nearly every band in the genre uses. Paint It Black is the most interesting song here, for good reason, with the most variance. The song Judas was done extremely well, made everyone groove, and is for now my favorite track featured. Two guys from Extol were hanging around their set as they played and seemed to be liking it as well. In fact both bands played on the same stage, using the same gear as well. They were also all wearing other bands' shirts, including each others', which I thought was cool.

After the show I bought this CD here which some of the members themselves were selling at their merch booth. I was lucky enough and they were nice enough to get the three of them to sign the album (both guitarists and vocalist, who was quite sick but still managed an awesome vocal performance), and later ran into the band as they were packing up, where the drummer and bassist were both extremely friendly and signed the booklet at well. So I've got a signature next to each picture, pretty dang nifty.

I would recommend this CD to anyone into the Swedish or Norweigian death metal scene. The vox are mainly tinged with black metal or the more barked style of In Flames, but they fit right in with the music. The drumming is totally Swedish, with a lot of groove and double-bass, really easy to nod to.
All in all it was easily worth the price I paid for directly from the band. Amazingly nice and friendly guys (vocalist was sick, can forgive him), who put a lot of passion and energy into their music. Catch 'em live if you can.

-Jay M.

This is amazing, fast pace, thrash inspired, melodic metalcore. Which easily stands out from any other metalcore you've heard. The music is simple but not boring. Every song varies with a slightly different feel to it, and the intro to each song hits you like a sledgehammer to the face! The vocals stand out among all with a thrashy raspyness but very high pitched. Not too monotone with an occasional growl but none of the singing vocals that you get from their newer cd. Not only does the screaming remain relentless throughout the album but its also clear and you can make out almost every word the frist time through. The guitars are very metal and the breakdowns are phenominal. The drums give a punk feel to the music and then with your occasional double bass, back to metal just like that. Although produced by Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage with clear and crisp production quality, similar to any album on Solid State, it differs in many ways. For one this is the first non-christian release on the label. I guess they're just that good that it got looked over. For fans of A Life Once Lost, Killswitch Engage, The Black Dhalia Murder, Haste the Day, Zao, As I Lay Dying, Lamb of God, well pretty much anything metal or hardcore. The cd layout and lyrics (which you can actually understand) are both top notch. The cover of Paint it Black (Rolling Stones) has been done before (by The Black Dhalia Murder and many punk bands) but it's still pretty cool with punk style vocals and a pretty sweet breakdown near the end. The album clocks in at 36 mins with only 1 slower, mostly instrumental song (Nausea) which still has some screaming about half way through (which are the most hard to understand words on the disc). The Agony Scene ROCKS!!!

Favorite song: Vivid