Agony - The First Defiance (Music for Nations) 1988
1. "Storm
of the Apocalypse" (5:47)
2. "First Defiance" (4:35)
3. "Execution of Mankind" (7:32)
4. "Mass Munipulation" (4:50)
5. "Night of the Emporer" (5:44)
6. "Shadow Of Fear" (5:32)
7. "Madness Reigns" (5:25)
8. "Deadly Legacy" (5:27)
Technical thrash metal was a relatively new thing in the late 80's and Europe seemed to have a lion's share of killer thrash bands. Sweden's Agony were one such band. Agony are from the same school as bands like Kreator, Coroner, Apocalypse, early Sepultura, etc. They play fast and heavy, but with a top-notch technical precision matched by few. Part of what puts this band above the pack is that they don't play 100 mph throughout the entire disc and they pretty much avoid the whole thrash metal polka thing. In other words, the music isn't written as speed for speed's sake, but rather the band put some thought behind their songwriting and were not afraid to slow things up to give the songs some dynamics. There is plenty of variety throughout, yet without sounding confused or uninteresting. The entire CD is solid without a single weak song on the disc.