| The Agony Scene | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States |
| Genres | Metalcore |
| Years active | 2001-2008 |
| Labels | Solid State Roadrunner Abacus Records Century Media |
| Website | TheAgonyScene.net |
| Members | |
| Mike Williams Chris Emmons Brian Hodges Ryan Folden |
|
| Former members | |
| Rod Burguiere Matt Shannon Brent Masters Matt Horwitz Johnny Lloyd Pat Corcoran Robert "Bob" Foss Steven Kay Garrett Grover Pete Webb Chris Rye |
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The Agony Scene was a Metalcore band from Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. On October 8 2008, frontman Mike Williams confirmed that the band had broken up in the spring, and that most people had not noticed until now. Although The Agony Scene was known for blending several corrosive elements from genres including thrash metal, black metal and hardcore punk, the band is also generally considered to be a part of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal.[2][3]
The band has released three albums, one on Solid State Records, one on Roadrunner Records, and one on Century Media Records. It had been signed to Abacus Records for a while when it folded.
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Formed in early 2001, The Agony Scene was the brainchild of three Tulsa musicians: Johnny Lloyd, Rod Burguiere, and Daniel Hickman. Originally looking to form a spirit-filled hardcore band in vein of Zao and Overcome, Lloyd and Hickman took guitar duties with Burguiere as the frontman. The arduous search for a rhythm section eventually exasperated Hickman, who left to join Tulsa metalcore outfit Enlow. Burguiere then looked to his former bandmates Mike Williams and Brent Masters and things began to mesh. The four piece, with Williams on bass and Masters on drums, eventually came across Chris Emmons as a second guitar and the lineup was solidified.
For the first year TAS made a name for themselves in the Tulsa hardcore scene and playing shows around the Midwest with fellow Tulsa acts Enlow and Plan B. In late 2001, Williams left the band to join Tulsa grind outfit Thirty Called Arson and was replaced by Garrett Grover.
January 2002 saw TAS’s first studio recorded demo which subsequently landed in the hand’s of Seattle’s Solid State Records, that eventually granted the band a record deal. Immediately following their performance at Cornerstone that year, Burguiere stepped down from vocal duties and was replaced by former bassist Mike Williams.
Since Solid State records is generally considered to be a Christian music label, some people have assumed The Agony Scene to be a Christian band. For this reason the band soon moved to a new record label. The band has since confirmed in an interview with HM magazine that since parting ways with the label, they are not a Christian band and are the farthest thing away from that type of band.
In late 2006 the band parted ways with drummer Brent Masters and invited Ryan Folden - a Spokane, WA based drummer - to join the band.
In early 2008 the band dropped out of a tour with Himsa due to "some major personal situations that make performing on this tour impossible"[1], according to Himsa's management. It was unknown at the time whether the group has subsequently managed to resolve such issues or had in fact broken up. The group's official website had also been shut down, which furthered the assumption that the group had disbanded.
Slipping by the radar, The Agony Scene actually broke up in the spring of 2008 following their pulled tour with Himsa earlier in the year. Band frontman Mike Williams had the following to say about the split: "The Agony Scene is no more, for those of you who didn't already know. We reached a point where it wasn't making financial sense and we felt it was better to quit while we were ahead rather than dragging it out and dragging ourselves further into debt. I'm sad so see it end before I was ready to move on, but tastes change and times change and it just felt like the right time to call it quits. I had some amazing experiences over the last 5 years, met some amazing people, played shows with Danzig which is insane, traveled abroad and all that. We had a great run and I got everything out of it that I wanted to. The shitty part is when you put your whole life on hold and have to figure out what to do with yourself now that it's over. I'm starting something new musically, something that couldn't be further away from metal and hardcore. I'll post something when it gets recorded."
At present, Williams has been working on some solo material.
| Date of Release | Title | Label |
| unknown | live june.03.01 | none |
| June 10, 2003 | The Agony Scene | Solid State Records |
| May 24, 2005 | The Darkest Red | Roadrunner Records |
| October 23, 2007 | Get Damned | Century Media Records |