15 years have passed since The Agony Scene first took the stage. Several records, international tours, and a lengthy hiatus later are back with a vengeance
Tulsa, Oklahoma’s The Agony Scene released their fourth full-length Tormentor record – first in a decade – on 20 July via Outerloop Records. Produced by Mark Lewis, Tormentor promises to be bands heaviest and most mature offering to date. 2018 will see the band return to the road to bring this monster to life on stages worldwide.
The dark metalcore crew, creep in with “Awakenings” a 50 second instrumental to ease us into what we are about to feel, a full-on explosion of guitar riffs, growling vocals, heavy arsed drumming and a bass to curl those chest hairs. We power through “Hand of Divine” a dark telling of the Rubio family, the intensity of this tune smashes its way to “Like the Weeds in the Field” and the highlight of the record for me “The Ascent and Decline” whose riffs so heavy they could perform an exorcism.
Away for all this time, The Agony Scene have a lot of pent up aggression, and if these guys are your bag, then you’ll be in for some hard-hitting scream thrashing, brain-smashing fun with “The Apostle”. The fast-paced riffs continue throughout the album with “Serpent’s Tongue” its Kango style drumming is exceptional with those growling vocals.
If dark metalcore is in that heart of yours and, to be honest, this isn’t my area of expertise, I still will suggest that you get in the grips of this and let go of the Monday blues.