Christ Agony

Poland is a nation whose black metal scene is sorely overlooked. Over the years, phenomenal bands like Profanum, Graveland, Infernum, and the mighty Behemoth have helped propel the genre forward to new heights, and today bands like Mgła, Massemord, and Cultes des Ghoules continue to show that cutting-edge black metal is still coming out of Poland. But one of the earliest--and most underrated--black metal bands from Poland that emerged at the time when the second wave was just beginning is Olzstyn's CHRIST AGONY.

Christ Agony has primarily been the brainchild of founding member Cezar (who is also known for his work in black metal band Moon, with Vader's Doc [R.I.P.]). While different musicians have come and gone on bass, drums, and backing guitar, Cezar has remained the constant. In 1990, Cezar, Zurek, and Ash formed Christ Agony, drawing on old school bands like Hellhammer and Bathory as influences. By the end of 1990, they put out the Sacronocturn demo.

"Nocturnal Symphony" is from the Sacronocturn demo

This early material definitely bears the imprint of classic old-school bands, especially Hellhammer and early Samael. Since they were emerging onto the scene at a crucial turning point in the history of black metal (the beginning of the explosion known as the second wave), their material was lucky enough to receive the attention it deserved. Their 1992 demo, Epitaph of Christ, was a continuation of their earlier work, and it led to them entering a studio to record their first proper full-length album.

From their first album, this is "Dies Irae"

That first studio album was 1993's UnholyUnion. The influence of Hellhammer, Bathory, and Samael can clearly be heard. At the same time, Christ Agony's sound was always their own. They never really copied any trend, or resembled any of the established styles. They didn't exactly follow the trebly, lo-fi Norwegian sound; the melodic riffing style of the Swedish scene; the brutal, unrelenting Beherit or Blasphemy style; or a typical black/thrash pattern. They had a very rhythmic style that was riff-oriented, but still darkly atmospheric.

This style continued over the course of what can be argued are their classic 1990s albums: 1994's Daemoonseth: Act II and 1996's Moonlight: Act III. Yet despite the quality black metal that Christ Agony was churning out, and despite the fact that their rotating roster included members of bands like Vader, Behemoth, Dies Irae, Witchmaster, and Profanum (among others), they never seemed to get the recognition worthy of their talent.

A great song from Daemoonseth, this is "Avasatha Pagan"

"Mephistospell" is from 1996's Moonlight

The late 1990s saw many luminaries from the Polish black and death metal scenes filling in the roles of bass, drums, and backing guitar in Christ Agony. They continued to toil away in the underground with not much recognition from the metal press at large. After a few more crucial releases, the band changed their name to Union in 2005 and released an album titled Christ Agony before changing their name back. This phase saw them incorporating more death metal elements into their sound.

"Hellfire" is a good sample of their sound from the Union era (2005-2007)

In 2007, after renaming themselves Christ Agony, they still continued to incorporate death metal elements into their sound. The 2008 album Condemnation, for example, is pretty different from 1990s classics like Daemoonseth or Moonlight. It's heavily percussive, very bass-driven, and has a production style that reminds one of some of the stalwarts of the death metal scene. This sound more or less continues on 2011's NocturN (an album where you can definitely hear the influence of drummer Inferno, of Behemoth fame).

"Flames of Several Suns" is of off 2011's NocturN

I'd have to say that since the early 2000s and then their Union years, Christ Agony has been steadily transforming into a band that is less and less black metal, and more and more genre-blurring (but heavy on the death metal). Black metal purists will probably not find much to enjoy after their early work, but open-minded metal heads (especially those who like bands like Deivos and Behemoth) will enjoy Christ Agony's recent work.

Select Discography

Sacronocturn (demo) (1990)

Epitaph of Christ (demo) (1992)

UnholyUnion (full-length) (1993)

Daemoonseth: Act II (full-length) (1994)

Moonlight: Act III (full-length) (1996)

Darkside (full-length) (1997)

Trilogy (full-length) (1998)

Elysium (full-length) (1999)

Next time: ANCIENT RITES