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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than a lot of modern metal, December 21, 2005
If you didn't already know by there first album, The Agony Scene's sophomore release, "The Darkest Red," makes it pretty apparent that this is not just another metalcore band. The guitarists are clearly (at least partially) influenced by thrash, because they play non-stop fiery riffs which wouldn't be out of place on a modern Slayer or Lamb of God album. The guitars and drums interlock to make a typically very catchy rhythm section which occasionally grooves (as in track four), and always shreds the listener's speakers. The music on here doesn't offer anything strictly new to metalcore, but Mike's vocals make this Oklahoma quintet stand out from the rest of the pack. His greasy/grimy, snarly, retching vocals sometimes sound kind of like Dave Mustaine (like during the beginning of the title track), but they usually echo Kreator more than anything. There is some relief; "Screams Turn Into Silence" has clean backing vocals, but it's the only song on here to have melody of any kind. Track two, "Darkest Red," has fast double bass work and chugging guitars, "Procession" has a catchy, punching, stop-start rhythm, and "Scars of Your Disease" and "Suffer" are explosive, with pounding, almost thunderous rhythms. But the album's lead single, "Prey," is my personal favorite. It begins with a walloping, machine gun snare drum attack, but then the thrashy, groove-y guitars kick in, and the song just sounds downright awesome. "The Darkest Red" is a very enjoyable listen, it sounds pretty darn great, and this band has cemented itself has more than just another metalcore band. So, if you haven't already checked them out, definitely put The Agony Scene on your to-do list.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Regardless of what you hear, it's not "trendy", May 26, 2005
When I first found out about the Agony Scene about a year and half ago, I thought they were pretty good...I got their self-titled debut, and found while it had a LOT of potential, it was too repetitive to really hold my attention for longer than a few weeks.
On THIS album, however, The Agony Scene have shown a lot of artistic growth even through a few lineup changes, (I believe only three members from the original five are still in it on this one. I might be wrong, though) and I think The Darkest Red is certainly a step up from their debut album.
Dont be fooled by all of the reviews that say The Agony Scene has somehow gone "pop" or "trendy" or anything like that; There's only actual singing in about 4 songs and it's not for that long anyway. The brutal, heavy sound that you heard on their first CD is still there, don't worry. With songs like "Suffer" and "Scars Of Your Disease", it's pretty clear that the Agony Scene have not just turned their sound completely in the mainstream direction like some people have dismissed them as doing.
As I always do in my reviews, here's a track-by-track commentary:
(1) PRELUDE- There's not really much to say about this thing. It's just a bunch of noise for about a minute and twenty seconds. Complete waste of space.
--/10
(2) THE DARKEST RED- Not the best song to choose to start out the album, but it's alright. You can really tell the production has gotten much slicker at Roadrunner than from Solid State. Don't get me wrong, it's Agony Scene, which automatically makes it good, but it's not the strongest track of the CD.
6/10
(3) SCARS OF YOUR DISEASE- Ahh, this is good stuff right here. It's sort of a blend of their newer sound and thier older one. The results are very satisfactory.
8/10
(4) SCREAMS TURN TO SILENCE- Yes, this is the first one to feature the singing of the chorus. Dont start freaking out, though, it turns out well. Has a nice riff to it, too.
7/10
(5) SACRIFICE- Ehh...Probably the only song I dont care for that much. It seems more like it belongs on their debut album.
5/10
(6) PREY- Yeah yeah yeah, it's the single...The chorus is incredibly catchy; It'll get stuck in your head a LOT. Probably the best song on the album, but not my favorite. If that makes any sense.
10/10
(7) PROCESSION- This is where The Darkest Red really starts getting good, is around here. The clean vocals get minimal use here, but it's mostly one of their fast, heavy songs. One of the better ones, I thought. The chorus sounded really unique, which is really an accomplishment for this band.
8/10
(8) SUFFER- Probably the heaviest song. I love it so much; The buried scream at the intro is really neat. Michael's voice really soars during the chorus too. You can really tell that his voice has gotten stronger on the album, but particularly during this song.
9/10
(9) MY DARK DESIRE- This one is my personal favorite. The chorus is very awesome, it doesnt sound like anything The Agony Scene has ever done. If there's one thing this song proves, it proves that The Agony Scene has gotten much less repetitive than on their last outing.
10/10
(10) SCAPEGOAT- Another song reminiscient of something that they would have on their old album. A catchy chorus, and no, there's no singing on this one. This would have beeen a good one to close The Darkest Red out with, but we still have one more...
9/10
(11) FOREVER ABANDONED- This one's alright; By this point, however, it kind of gets to the we've-heard-this-before redundancy of their debut. It ends well and it has an interesting guitar riff, but all the same it feels like a little much to have this one tacked at the end. Almost feels like a filler song.
7/10
OVERALL: 79/100
In conclusion, this album was certainly not a disappointment. The Agony Scene are not quite "there" yet, but if they continue to grow by their third or fourth album they will certainly be a force to be reckoned with in the metalcore world.
If you like this band, I would also recommend Still Remains, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Heaven Shall Burn.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Giant Step Forward (4.5 stars), October 14, 2006
I do not regret the day I purchased this album. The Agony Scene is a band that blends in the energy of death metal, but crafts a style of their own. This CD has some of the most memorable riffs and blastbeats, and it also introduces the clean singing in it as well. As I have heard from music fans, they thing clean singing ruins the bands, and that is true in some cases, but the Agony Scene can pull it off well.
The atmosphere of this CD is much different from their self-titled debut. When I listened to the track "Prey", I was blown away. The music has a darker production and grasp to it. As I said before, it's more rooted into death metal. However, I don't consider this CD to be a metalcore CD really, because even if it does have an occassional breakdown and blastbeats, it's not really metalcore. I don't know what to call it. Pft, I'll just call it good music.
Other standout tracks on this CD are the catchy "Scars of Your Disease", the fast-riffed "Suffer", the explosive opening riffs on "Procession", and the title track that gives a good insight to the CD. This CD is a great big breath of fresh air, and don't dismiss it as another metalcore CD, because it sure isn't. Only flaws may be the clean vocals at times, but if you get over those, you will no doubt enjoy this.
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