NEW LP
De Nihil Records
Agoni was Pers band, no doubt about it and I am not at all sure that he would’ve approved of this release. He was always very critical towards himself and the rest of us in the band, but he really knew how he wanted Agoni to sound. The role model was Discharge but we were teenagers who could barely play a proper chord and we didn't look half as cool as our heroes.
1984 we were the first Discharge clone in Stockholm and so many bands both developed and perfected that sound since then, but Agoni’s journey was unusual for a crappy little punk band in Sweden in the middle of the 80’s. Agoni always moved forward due to Pers drive and perfectionism and eventually went through a complete melatmorphosis. From the ashes of the Discharge clone rose Agony, a thrash metal band that could actually play and looked cool to boot. This album collets all the demos that were made before Agon-i turned into Agon-y, the years Discharge were the blueprint and not Exodus.
I met Per through Bowling-Åke of Mob 47. He gave him my number because he was
putting together a hardcore band and I liked hardcore, noone in Stockholm liked hardcore in those days. Sure, there were a few bands like Trojne, Krixhjälters and Mob 47, but in Stockholm piss bad pop punk ruled. All the punk bands seemed to change and started to sound like U2 wearing colorful scarves in their belts. We hated it and me and Per hit it off right away. With vocals and bass as the foundation we started to write songs, I made the music and Per had loads of lyrics lying around since he wrote hardcore-haiku for Mob 47 as well.
I met Per through Bowling-Åke of Mob 47. He gave him my number because he was
putting together a hardcore band and I liked hardcore, noone in Stockholm liked hardcore in those days. Sure, there were a few bands like Trojne, Krixhjälters and Mob 47, but in Stockholm piss bad pop punk ruled. All the punk bands seemed to change and started to sound like U2 wearing colorful scarves in their belts. We hated it and me and Per hit it off right away. With vocals and bass as the foundation we started to write songs, I made the music and Per had loads of lyrics lying around since he wrote hardcore-haiku for Mob 47 as well.
One day I got a call from Per, he was all excited because he had seen a guy with the Discharge-logo painted on his leather jacket. This was a rare occasion but he saw him at a coffee shop from a passing bus. This was obviously not something that would get in the way and Per kept his eyes open everytime he rode the bus past the place, not before long Per spotted Nappe again and this time he was prepared, jumped off the bus and recruited Agonis first guitar player.
Lucky us that Nappe played guitar at all, but if you payed attention this far you’d know that the Discharge logo on the leather jacket was way more important than any actual skill playing an instrument.
The line-up was completed with Sudde, a guy we met at the DIY venue Ultra-huset, it’s
hard to remember but I think he was a fan of our friends Mob 47 and he was into hardcore. Sadly he wasn't into the look which led to numerous conflicts within the band, but he was dedicated and played his own original version of the d-beat that set the sound on the first demo.
The first Agoni demo was recorded 1985-01-06 in the basement where we practised. The guy we rented from had a crude recording device and we persuaded him to record the songs we had. The demo ended up on the compilation tape “Stockholms mangel”, a three- band statement in stark opposition to the washed up pop punk of Stockholm at the time, apart from Agoni, also including Mob 47 and Crudity.
Where the first Agoni demo is well documented the exact opposite is true for the second one. For a long time I was unsure if I dreamed up its existence entirely. No one knew about it and even fewer had actually heard it. The songs were made by the original line-up but are recorded with Nappe playing both the guitar and the bass. I had a family vacation planned over the summer, but Per had plans for a recording and when I told him to wait for me, he went ahead and did it anyway. I was furious and quit the band and Sudde got booted out shortly after.
The demo didn't turn out as good as the first one and its very likely the only copies made were for the members of the band. No one even remembers the name of the songs since there was no cover where the information was written down. The titles on the release you are listening to right now is made up but I am very happy that the songs turned up. A big thank you to Marko Mikan who saved a copy I made for him in the 80’s.
Lucky us that Nappe played guitar at all, but if you payed attention this far you’d know that the Discharge logo on the leather jacket was way more important than any actual skill playing an instrument.
The line-up was completed with Sudde, a guy we met at the DIY venue Ultra-huset, it’s
hard to remember but I think he was a fan of our friends Mob 47 and he was into hardcore. Sadly he wasn't into the look which led to numerous conflicts within the band, but he was dedicated and played his own original version of the d-beat that set the sound on the first demo.
The first Agoni demo was recorded 1985-01-06 in the basement where we practised. The guy we rented from had a crude recording device and we persuaded him to record the songs we had. The demo ended up on the compilation tape “Stockholms mangel”, a three- band statement in stark opposition to the washed up pop punk of Stockholm at the time, apart from Agoni, also including Mob 47 and Crudity.
Where the first Agoni demo is well documented the exact opposite is true for the second one. For a long time I was unsure if I dreamed up its existence entirely. No one knew about it and even fewer had actually heard it. The songs were made by the original line-up but are recorded with Nappe playing both the guitar and the bass. I had a family vacation planned over the summer, but Per had plans for a recording and when I told him to wait for me, he went ahead and did it anyway. I was furious and quit the band and Sudde got booted out shortly after.
The demo didn't turn out as good as the first one and its very likely the only copies made were for the members of the band. No one even remembers the name of the songs since there was no cover where the information was written down. The titles on the release you are listening to right now is made up but I am very happy that the songs turned up. A big thank you to Marko Mikan who saved a copy I made for him in the 80’s.
As time come for demo number three a new drummer has been recruited, Tommy Moberg, but Agoni had no permanent guitar player. Mats Strandell from Asocial played on a few gigs and Nappe took over the bass, but none of them remembers who actually wrote the songs that appear on “The Future is ours”. The demo was recorded at the end of February, beginning of March 1986 in Thunderload studio and this time around the metal influence is starting to show. The lack of a permanent guitar player was solved by borrowing a studio musician who added guitar solos everywhere humanly possible. Shortly thereafter Agoni completed the line up with Pelle Ström and Magnus Sjölin on guitars and changed the name to Agony.
Agoni existed fall 1984 through spring 1986
Demo 1:
Per Lundström- Vocals
Nappe Benchemsi- Guitar
Peter Hirseland- Bass
Peter Sudow- Drums
Demo 2:
Per Lundström-Vocals
Nappe Benchemsi- Guitar and Bass
Peter Sudow- Drums
Demo 3, ”The Future is Ours”:
Per Lundström-Vocals
Nappe Benchemsi- Bass
Tommy Moberg- Drums
There’s a lot of uncertainties and questions that never will be answered about the who, when and wheres about Agoni. The person with all the answers is dead and the rest of us barely remembers anything from this time. Therefor it is very likely that the facts sometimes are wrong, but what are we gonna do? It’s a long time ago. You will have to fill in the gaps yourself.
Peter Hirseland
February 2022
Agoni existed fall 1984 through spring 1986
Demo 1:
Per Lundström- Vocals
Nappe Benchemsi- Guitar
Peter Hirseland- Bass
Peter Sudow- Drums
Demo 2:
Per Lundström-Vocals
Nappe Benchemsi- Guitar and Bass
Peter Sudow- Drums
Demo 3, ”The Future is Ours”:
Per Lundström-Vocals
Nappe Benchemsi- Bass
Tommy Moberg- Drums
There’s a lot of uncertainties and questions that never will be answered about the who, when and wheres about Agoni. The person with all the answers is dead and the rest of us barely remembers anything from this time. Therefor it is very likely that the facts sometimes are wrong, but what are we gonna do? It’s a long time ago. You will have to fill in the gaps yourself.
Peter Hirseland
February 2022