THE AGONY SCENE @ House of Blues
by
Gnarly Charlie Steffens
May 7, 2005
West Hollywood, California
Oklahoma crude isn't just about oil these days. Tulsa's The Agony
Scene has lubricious shit you can't buy from "W" or "OBL", and it's
made by metalheads for metalheads. I bet 'ol Merle Haggard has never
incited stagediving during one of his shows, or caused a frenetic pit to
circle, while twanging out one of his dillies, such as "Okie from
Muskogee." Like Merle, The Agony Scene play "feel good" music, but
sometimes it is with an attitude of hate, smash, kill.
Out promoting their new record The Darkest Red and
co-headlining with Strapping Young Lad with support from Misery
Signals and Reflux, The Agony Scene played a show that gave the
Hollywood vampires what they came out that night to see and hear. (I'm
partial to their music because it has a Swedish metal sound, especially
in the drumming, and a bit of death is tastefully infused into the
words). Not sparing in their energy or enthusiasm, they played a set
that pelted the audience mercilessly with bone crushing rhythm from
drummer Brent Masters and new bassist Brian Hodges. Singer Mike
Williams, a fire breathing screamer, who also incorporates clean vocals
in his performance, sang his ass off and appeared to have a real good
time doing it. The guitar wizardry of Chris Emmons and Stephen Kaye was
amazing to see as they switched leads, feeding off the ambient vibe
along with energy that their band was creating.
4 stars out of a possible 5.
 Set List:
Lines of Suicide
Scars of Your Disease
Habeas Corpus
Scapegoat
Prey
Forever Abandoned
We Bury Our Dead at Dawn
More photos.
www.theagonyscene.com
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