Angels and Agony are a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

futurepop Futurepop is an electronic music genre that has been characterized as a blend of synthpop, EBM and dance beats, based on trance and techno.Peter Matzke, Tobias Seeliger: ''Das Gothic- und Dark-Wave-Lexikon.'' Schwarzkopf und Schwarzkopf, Berlin ...

band consisting of vocalist Reinier Kahle, guitarist Erik Wierenga, DJ Marco van Belle on synthesizer and backing vocals and Fried Bruggink as sound engineer and drummer. The band formed in 1995 and produced two EPs before its first full album, ''Eternity'' (2001). ''Eternity'' was produced by

VNV Nation VNV Nation is an Irish alternative electronic project led by Ronan Harris in the roles of singer, songwriter, and producer. VNV Nation's sound combines lyrics with sounds that ranges from melodic industrial dance anthems, to haunting ballads ...

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. Other high-profile collaborations include Axel Ermes of

Girls Under Glass Girls Under Glass (GUG) is a musical group from Hamburg, Germany, founded in 1986 by Thomas Lücke, Hauke Harms, and Volker "Zaphor" Zacharias. Described as "an indispensable part of the German wave and gothic scene", GUG began as a gothic rock ban ...

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, and

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The band's current record label (since ''Eternity'', 2001) is

Out of Line Out Of Line Music is an independent record label located in Berlin, Germany. Out of Line is distributed by Rough Trade (Believe Digital) and exclusive partner to publishing giant BMG Rights Management, through sister company Edition Layer Cake. ...

, a German label of industrial- and synthpop-oriented electronic bands.

Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1993 by the late Dave Heckman. The label's all-electronic format closely tracked with European contemporaries, such as Off Beat, and, since 1995, has been instrumenta ...

is the band's US distributor since 2004. According to Reiner, the name of the band symbolizes the duality of human experience. It was also the name of a graphic novel Reiner worked on in 1995 simultaneously to founding the band. Similar artists to Angels and Agony are

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and Pride and Fall. A 2007 interview commented on the musical style of the band, noting that, in contrast with many electro-industrial projects whose lyrics center on violence and provocation, Angels and Agony songs are philosophical and humanist in character. To this Renier replied: "The lyrics are meant to be 'universal', multi-interpretable and objective, in a way.... I'm just not the guy to write songs, singing 'Fuck' 116 times in 4 minutes, or singing I'd like to cut up my bitch or what have you not." Metropolis Records describes the band's music thus: "Although the music can be dark and melancholic, but still danceable with pumping beats and sequences, the songs have a very positive message."

Discography

*''Unity'', EP (1999) *''Darkness'', EP (2001) *''Eternity'', album (2001) (re-released 2007 with new artwork) *''Forever'', EP (2002) *''Salvation'', EP (2003) *''Avatar'', album (2004) *''Unison'', album (2007) *''Monument'', album (2015)

References

External links

Angels & Agony FacebookAngels & Agony Myspace
Dutch electronic music groups Dutch synthpop groups Dutch dark wave musical groups Metropolis Records artists {{Netherlands-band-stub