There are some bands that just floor you with the pure intensity of their music, and for me, End the Agony are one of these bands. The music is a form of slow, almost dirgey hardcore with quite heavy guitars and intense, shouting vocals. The band consists of a guitarist/vocalist and a drummer/vocalist (they have, since releasing this 7”, recruited a bassist also). Considering they have such a minimal line up they manage to create a very passionate and intense sound, in fact, perhaps it’s because of this small line up the record feels so passionate, as we are able to simply see the raw emotion of the music and the musicians themselves. The hand drawn artwork and hand written lyric sheet help to add to this personal feel also.
I think a lot of hardcore can often feel quite contrived, mostly due to the spate of “tough guy” hardcore, and rubbish “metalcore” currently on display, which all feels a little watered down, but End the Agony are in a whole different league, this is just pure intense, heavy music.
I think a lot of hardcore can often feel quite contrived, mostly due to the spate of “tough guy” hardcore, and rubbish “metalcore” currently on display, which all feels a little watered down, but End the Agony are in a whole different league, this is just pure intense, heavy music.
I think the band chose a very appropriate name for themselves also, as there is a real sense of pain and anguish in this music, especially in the vocals. However, this is not presented in any kind of dramatic sense; instead we are simply shown raw emotion here.
In closing, this 7” is a real gem, and I can’t recommend this enough to anyone into passionate, raw, intense music.
