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Interviews
Agony - Magnus Sjölin
08/04/11 || Lord K Philipson
For years and years and years I have been raving about this Swedish band, Agony, and their one and only album “The first defiance”. It is right up there as one of my absolute faves in musical history, as well as being the best offering from a Swedish thrash band ever. No, these guys aren’t around anymore. They haven’t been for decades. Now is the time to actually shed some light on what happened with them; why did they break up, how did they manage to shit out the best fucken thrash known to mankind and what are they up to these days? Global Domination’s got the answers. As always. Sadly there aren’t many photos to use for this interview, but to make up for it we give you some excellent reading. Enjoy.
Global Domination: To say that this is an honour, to be able to talk to one of my 5 heroes of the legendary Agony is an understatement. I take a bow, and I believe you should do the same seeing you are now being interviewed for Global Domination by your… eh… biggest fan. I even have the shirt to prove it, you know. Anyways, before we start off this monster of an interview, what the fuck have you personally been up to since the release of the classic “The first defiance”? It’s been… to put it mildly, a few years…
Magnus Sjölin: First of all, nice to be here and I really appreciate those kind words. You´re obviously a big fan!! I have stayed true to the business of music and played along with different projects over the past years. I’ve always been a songwriter and I will stick to that for the rest of my life.
So, lemme see here… First thing that pops up in my mind when speaking about Agony is: did you have the slightest of clues what the fuck you guys accomplished with “The first defiance” back in 1988?
Well, I don´t think we accomplished that much commercially and we weren’t that happy about the production actually. I think we had good material that could have been even better if we´d been more experienced in terms of studio work. But if you say it´s a masterpiece, then why argue ´bout it… I think we, back then, really believed we were making the best album of all times, that´s only natural when you´re a twenty year old being in a band (…well, maybe not the best, but whatever…).
Kind of staying with the last question, did you ever realize that right there and then you were recording what would end up being the finest piece of thrash metal from Sweden, ever? Coz lemme tell ya, it fucken is. No one’s even come close to what you guys did back then. Quite a few bands tried, but none succeeded, and it will continue that way obviously. So, did any of you guys really fathom you created a masterpiece? How do you view this album today, over 20 years later of its release?
I like it! There´s a kind of charm about it that definitely still remains the same after all these years. When you think about it, I wouldn’t wanna have it any other way. That´s what we did and that´s the way it turned out, it´s as simple as that.
One thing that always struck me as a bit puzzling is that this “The first defiance” album ended up actually being your last defiance as well. One album and that was that. What the fuck happened? You were signed to a big label and all, you got a monster of an album out and then… you guys split up… Out of the fucken blue. I was devastated. I looked forward to a bunch of defiances, really. What happened? What made the band go separate ways and were there ever any discussions about a reunion whatsoever?
What happened was that Tommy and I wanted to go further and make some serious progress. We wanted to go beyond the entire thrash scene and develop the band. I think if we´d had a record deal a year or two years earlier, we would have done at least one more album with the same line up. But the way it turned out, we were very keen on developing our sound and take a step forward. That simply lead to some changes in the band.
If you only knew how many times we (that’d be me and my 2 friends) called that Stockholmian record store Heavy Sound, nagging on them to get your album into the store so we could buy it… You have no idea. We waited for months and months and months… All this becoz we had seen you guys supporting Candlemass in Stockholm back in 1988 or so. Do you remember anything from this gig except for Messiah doomdancing his way through the floor?
I remember it well! It is still one of the most enjoyable memories from that time. That was a night to remember for sure!! Whoever was responsible for that gig, he or she did the right thing. Could it have been Dave Constable maybe…? I think he was a writer for Kerrang and he moved to Stockholm where he started a record label. I think he signed Hexenhaus by the way… Well, as you mentioned, Messiah crushed through the stage and a lot of weird stuff was goin’ on that night. As I recall, Pete and Nappe was wandering around the with a video camera after the gig, just documenting what was going on backstage and in the near area. This video is on You Tube!
Did you guys even do any Swedish gigs after that one? The reason why I am asking is becoz if you did – I need to stab myself in my eyes with a fork as I didn’t attend them. Were there ever any talks about any tours and so forth? I’m not talking about Sweden exclusively, but the world as a whole.
I´m not sure actually, that may have been the last one. Yes there was always talk about us getting out on tour with this and that. Our U.S record Company “Combat records” wanted us to tour with either Exodus or Anthrax but nothing ever happened. There was also talk about us getting out with an English band, might have been Onslaught. There was always a lot of rumors that never came alive. That´s strange due to how many companies we were connected to, Music For Nations, Alpha Records, Combat, Red Herring Music, bla bla bla…
You have a vague idea how much I have been raving about you guys over the years since you obviously have the Internet, meaning you have seen some of my love displayed online. Do you still get any feedback for what you created back at the time, apart from yours truly, that is.
Yes, my ex girlfriend wore an Agony t-shirt at a concert recently and she was attacked by a crazy bunch that wanted to get a hold of that t-shirt immediately..!! True actually! ..and yes, there are in fact a lot of fans still out there, not just you! But you might be the most dedicated…!
I have made it my mission to spread the Agony gospel, to some success I might add, but do you think you got the attention you deserved while still being active?
Definitely not! We should have ruled the world!! But… if you´re from Sweden, that´s for sure is not gonna help you… At least not being a thrash band in the year of 1987. I think if we had gone touring just after the release of the album, something might have happened but the lazy people around us didn’t deliver anything.
Whose idea was it to put a larger-than-life logo on the cover? Not only that, who the fuck came up with the idea of making it the color orange? I mean, seriously?
It wasn’t me. I like orange though… Is it really orange? Me myself and I, am responsible for the picture, found it at Tate Gallery in London. I remember also that we recruited a youngster to do the logo. But after that it was all up to Music For Nations to fix it. When it finally reached us, everyone was fairly pleased I think. Isn’t the logo actually pink… ha ha, well maybe I was a little confused there… But there wasn’t any big discussion about it as I recall. Answering your question about the larger than life logo, it was simply Music For Nations that made it that way. I think that logo showed some attitude…
During all these years I have come to the conclusion that the actual album cover has absolutely nothing in common with the album title. I mean, what is that on the cover anyways? Was it really supposed to represent anything? Don’t get me wrong, it looks great and all, but it’s… orange, you know.
Ok, you´re stuck with this orange thing… I would say red and brown… Regarding the case of what it represents, I would say it represents a lot of things that´s dealt with in the lyrics on the album, simply a storm of the apocalypse or why not a first defiance…? Anyway I thought it made perfect sense back then… I remember the title of the painting was “The great day of his Wrath”. Maybe we should have just chosen that one…
Look at these covers:
Obviously, I don’t wanna get away from the orange issue just yet, so answer this one: why are there 2 different versions of the album cover? The first one is the one we all know as the original, but the other one looks enhanced and whatnot. This puzzles me… Any idea what this is about?
The one that´s a little bit less orange is the CD-cover. I don´t think you´ll find a vinyl with that cover. But I can´t say for sure, if there are vinyls with that cover maybe it was the U.S print.
I have thought about stealing a few riffs from you guys over the years for The Project Hate MCMXCIX, as a tribute, though I haven’t really found a place where to use them yet. Would you be proud or sue me if I did? If you sue me we have to meet up and I can take your autograph, you know. I tried this with The Prodigy back in 1994 but they obviously never heard the song so I am still un-sued by them. Maybe 2nd time’s the charm, yes?
Stealing your riffs… Well I´ll deal with that when and if it´s necessary… In these days of the decline of the music business, nothing is sacred. I don´t know if I would be flattered or disgusted actually… See you in court then, ha ha.
Anyways, as you disbanded some of you went on and played metal in some other bands. We know Pelle (guitar) did The Krixhjälters, Omnitron and Comecon (if I’m not mistaken, can’t be arsed to look it up), but I seriously have no idea what the rest of you guys ended up doing. Care to lemme know?
Yeah, of course! Me, Tommy and Conny carried on for a while. We tried out new singers and shit… But eventually it all ended. Then Tommy went on to Rubbermen. I started a band with Patrik Isaksson. I think Conny joined Grave. Pete moved to the States and had some projects there I think. Pelle, as you mentioned kept on playing. I´m not sure about Nappe, maybe that was it for him, in the music business.
The late Pete Lundström, vocalist extra-ordinaire, sure delivered some unique vocals compared to his colleagues at the time. Not to mention his awesome hair-do. Was Agony the only band he ever sung in? Fuck knows he sure delivered on “The first defiance”. I don’t know how close you guys were upon the time of his passing, but what had he been up to since the release of “The first defiance”? Not that I knew him, but he sure will be missed, and remembered as one of the finest thrash vocalists from our country ever.
I have actually no idea if he was in another band before Agony. I know he was one of a kind, never met a guy with that much enthusiasm and energy. Nothing could stop him, if he wanted something he took it! And yes, he did a great job on our record! We were always nagging about Paul Baloff (not sure about that spelling…), Pete and I loved his vocals and I think we agreed on that we wanted something similar on our album. But of course Pete had his own way of howling. I remember though there was some disagreement in the band about how we wanted the vocals to be.
To lighten up things a bit, am I stretching it if I claim “Deadly legacy” to be one of the absolute epitomes of thrash metal? Who the fuck came up with that sick, sick opening riff? Is it ok if I claim I did? I’d like to take credit for it, really.
It was Pelle Ström, I think. Yes it was an amazing riff!! They had the song when I joined the band. It was definitely a hit song, should have made it to the billboard charts or something.. If you want to claim anything, be my guest and call Pelle… The songs on the album were mine except for that one and “execution of mankind”. Both were old AGONI stuff. I did contribute with some riffs on both songs though, since they were re-arranged in some ways…
You started out as Agoni (with an “I”), playing punk as far as I know. You have probably been asked this a thousand times back in the day, but since I don’t know the answer I need to ask. That, and I am too lazy to google… What made you guys completely change style to thrash metal and then name yourself the much more appropriate Agony, with a “Y”?
They were Agoni when I arrived and became Agony after my arrival. It was my suggestion that we should change the name. They were pretty much a punk band in those days, Discharge was their big influence I think. When I joined the band I was more into that metal thing and since I immediately started to write songs, everything turned in a more metal-oriented direction. It just happened, it was never a discussion about as I can recall. Speed metal/thrash was really coming on strong in the years of 85/86 and I think it was natural for a punk-band to get on the wagon.
Were there any material written for an eventual second album? Is there anything recorded that hasn’t seen the light of… eh… ears? If so, can I have it? I’ll claim I wrote it.
Yes, we wrote some pretty nasty stuff that never saw the light of day. The problem was, we didn’t find a singer. We actually had some auditions and if I´m not mistaken, Martin/E-TYPE was one of the guys. Instead he joined Hexenhaus for a short moment, playing the drums. As I mentioned before, Tommy, Conny and me continued working as a band, looking for the right vocalist. Leif Sundin was actually involved for a short while. Then Tommy and I made a couple of demo tapes, with Tommy on vocals. We reached as far as “demo of the week” on the Swedish Radio…
What makes Magnus tick today when it comes to music anyways?
What will always make me tick is THE SEVENTIES! Artists like Alice Cooper, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Bad Company, Elton John, Grand Funk Railroad, Status Quo, Thin Lizzy, Sweet, Supertramp, 10 cc, Zeppelin, Purple, Alvin Lee, Allman Brothers, Nazareth, Slade, Dylan, Hot Tuna, Humble Pie, Little Feat and so on… Can´t seem to find anything new that captures that spirit. I still look for vinyl records from the seventies that I may have missed. Grand Funk is actually a band I didn’t listen to in those days and discovered recently. Totally awesome band!
This leads me to the following… The guitars on “The first defiance” are insanely tight and they piss out The Golden Riff after the other. This was way before Pro-Tools and quantization entered the world, you guys could shred as if your lives depended on it. Who were your influences back at the time of the active Agony? I mean guitarists, not bands.
Thanks a lot! Well, the guitarists of that speed/thrash era that got me hooked were Gary Holt, James Hetfield (amazingly tight rhythm guitar) and the two guys in Slayer. They all had a unique style that influenced the entire metal scene at that time.
Who was responsible for the majority of the song writing anyways? I’d like to propose to whoever it was.
As I mentioned before, it was me who wrote the major part of it. After I joined the band I was in fact writing everything. But as I also mentioned, they had some ferocious stuff before my arrival. However, Tommy was always involved in the arrangements and he would always come up with a lot of ideas.
Is this the first Agony related interview you do since you disbanded, by the way? If it is I am going to go apeshit. What’s wrong with the world? Why the fuck won’t people understand you guys were destined to rule the universe? And why won’t they give you the time of day now, I mean – they have had fucken 20+ years to learn, goddamit!
Ha ha, no I did some interviews after we broke up. But that was ages ago. I don´t know what´s wrong with people but the majority always listens to crap music..r ight!!? I’ve noticed though that there is definitely an interest in old school thrash among todays young metal kids that didn’t really exist some years ago.
How many copies did “The first defiance” sell anyways? Did you ever get to see any royalties?
I think we sold about 20 000 or something close to that. I didn’t see any royalties at all! What I never understood was why we were connected to this Swedish publishing company that didn’t seem to care shit about us, anyway they did nothing good for us, what I know about. If Music for nations ever sent us some money, it got stuck in the pockets of those who managed that Swedish publishing company.
There has to be some nice stories from the recording of this beast, no? What is your fondest one as well as your biggest “fuck, I wish we could have that undone”-moment?
We recorded the album in the middle of nowhere, in Koppom (Värmland). There was nothing to do there really, except from just recording. Can´t think of anything specifically hilarious that happened at all. We lived there for about a month in the studio, it was a big house with a kitchen and some bedrooms on the top floor and the studio downstairs. There was a pool table also, I remember Pete hitting the ball too hard once and crushed a window. We went on a trip to Oslo one day and got pissed, I woke up in the car the next morning. But no, I don´t have that much more to offer..
Is there anything you’d like to change on the album? I mean, you have had some time to listen to it now…
If I´d had the opportunity to do it all over again, I would add some more bass and maybe change the guitar sound a bit. But no matter what, you will always find certain things that you would like to change on a recording. I think we came out alive and well.
I think you have seen me on stage (in pictures anyways) sporting an Agony shirt when I have played with Torture Division. Do you even have an Agony shirt yourself? If so, can I borrow it for the next gig? Did you bastards even make any merch back in the day? Any chance there are some leftovers that I can buy?
Why do you wanna borrow one if you already got one…? Ha ha but seriously no I don´t have one! My ex-girlfriend have it I think. It was her size! There was no merchandise that I recall. Some posters maybe, but we didn’t have that back up really and nobody cared. But those t-shirts were cool of course, wonder who was responsible for them anyway, might have been Alpha Records. But we produced a CD, Vinyl and cassette. That was pretty cool I think. The CD format was on the verge and yet still vinyls and cassettes hadn’t completely vanished. Now there´s a revival for vinyls, like it!
I was like 15 when I saw you in Stockholm, you must have been close to 20 or so at the time… This makes me believe you should be something just over 40 now, correct? Does metal still has its place in your heart? What are some of the fave bands you listen to every now and then in this genre?
I´m 30+!! Let´s leave it there… Metal hasn’t really stuck in my mind since the eighties. The seventies rock is in my blood forever though. But I like Foo Fighters. There are from time to time something that catches my ears but very seldom. Can´t seem to remember their name now but the guys with the masks whose bass player died, they were a decent bunch. Backdraft is a great Swedish band. I remember now, Slipknot yep… I really liked those Armenian guys, System Of A Down, also.
I don’t even know what you do for a living but I’m guessing music has nothing to do with it, correct? Do you still play guitar? If you do, does it ever happen that you pick the axe up and fire up some of those legendary riffs from the album?
I get some money from the music industry, but not like Elvis… Yes, I still play guitar, but the old Agony riffs are way too fast for me nowadays. I´d have to get in shape first.
Can you still fire up some sweet solos, by the way? Take this as a request for you to do a guest solo on future The Project Hate MCMXCIX albums. It’d make me happy as a pig in tons of shit. It’d also make you appear on another excellent album, which isn’t a bad thing at all.
I could probably fire it up in some way ha ha but I haven´t really played those kind of solos in a long time. It would probably be like rolling the dice and hope for the best… But thanks for the invitation, I´m honored! Maybe we´ll work something out, who knows…
What kind of gear did you use back in the day anyways? For the guitars I mean.
I borrowed Nappes Marshall stack ha ha true actually, thanks a lot Nappe you´re too kind. I think it was a seventies amp. I used an MXR dist, a slimy greenish thing. It was great! Then I bought the orange (here we go again..) BOSS dist, it was ok. I also had a yellow Turbo Overdrive that sucked and got stolen at the Kolingsborg gig! I only used it for some solos, never liked that one. The guy who stole it must have been disappointed. I also had a digital delay box, never liked that either. My guitars were an Ibanez V and a Washburn explorer. Eventually I bought a Hiwatt amp with a real crunchy sound.
I’m going to give you some old school Swedish thrash names and you are to say the first thing that pops up in your mind:
Fallen Angel: Never heard of.
Mezzrow: Remember I liked the vocals and they were pretty good.
Rosicrucian: Never heard of.
Appendix: Never heard…
Divine Sin: Nev…
Midas Touch: Uppsala if I´m not mistaken. Remember listening to their demo back then and it was pretty good
Ice Age: Oh yes now we´re talking, brilliant!! Really nice girls also!!
Has there any been any discussion about re-mastering “The first defiance”? Fuck knows I’d love to have it enhanced to make it dominate even more. If that is humanly possible. Are you in possession of the masters or do you know where they are at?
No, I don´t remember any discussion about it. But it could definitely improve the sound. I have no idea who´s in possession of that master. Should be lying in the archives of Music For Nations, if there are any… Otherwise Pete might have had it, but I never asked about it.
I forgot to ask, what’s your fave tune off the album? The one you’d recommend people to listen to in case they never heard about you guys. I bet my ass that “Storm of the apocalypse” is right up there, huh?
Tricky question, but I would say “The first defiance”. I think that was the last song I wrote before going into the studio and I think it turned out well.
You may not know this, but I have made small tributes to you guys in some of my lyrics over the years, one of them being the “Storm of the apocalypse” title being included in a song. Does this make you proud as shit? I mean, something you created so long ago still influences people. That’s gotta mean something, no?
Cool as hell! Of course that makes me proud. If you´re able to influence someone with your work, you must have been doing something right… I think we were one of the first Swedish thrash/speed bands that released an album and there was probably a lot of people that was encouraged and influenced by that.
We already discussed your fave track off the album, so naturally I’d like to know which one you like the least. I think “Night of the emperor” isn’t holding up as well as all the others, still it’s a great track. I was driving around in my forklift at work today when it came on, by the way. It was a good day after that. Not that it sucked prior to the tune coming on, but hey…
I was a bit disappointed with that one actually, because it sounded a lot better on the demo we made before the album. That was the demo that made us signing with Music for nations. They contacted us after hearing our first demo that featured “Deadly legacy”, “Stealing your life”, “execution of mankind” and “Bribed”. They wanted us to come up with another one so they could decide whether signing us or not. Then I wrote “Night of the Emperor” and we did a great recording of it and got the deal. But the way that song turned out on the album didn’t quite match that demo version. But still it´s not that bad. I think “Madness reigns” is the weakest tune.
Were you ever into death metal by the way? I mean, you guys came around with the album when thrash was really big, then death metal took over. What’s your stance on this genre? Any fave bands whatsoever? You should really listen to Torture Division, you know. Simply becoz we are as awesome today as you guys were 20+ years ago. You could say we carry the legacy forward.
Death, Speed, Thrash, Black metal is pretty much the same deal to me, that was never of much importance to me. To label something like that is just playing with words. But I´m definitely not an expert on the subject. Can´t say I have listened much to Death metal since I´m not even sure what it stands for. But my guess is that it´s a slower kind of metal with a slightly different approach to the vocals..? I know I liked Venom at that time, but I never thought of it as Black metal. They were just a cool band that had their own particular sound and that´s what counts really. And yes, I will definitely check out Torture Division!! It will be exciting to hear if there are any Agony-influences there…!
What is your fave thrash band from the good old days anyways? Both Swedish and foreign is of interest.
Let me put it like this, there are four albums that simply was the best ones in that genre. “Bonded by blood”, “Reign in blood”, “Ride the lightning” and “Kill `em all”. Exodus, Slayer Metallica (ok, Megadeth´s first album was also great, Anthrax first with N. Turbin also). After worshiping these albums for a period of time in the eighties, I wasn’t that impressed with what came afterwards, sure I liked Testament, Overkill, Violence also but no one could really do it better. So what happened with Agony was that we started to take interest in different music styles, bands like Kings X, Jellyfish and a lot of the new stuff that came in that period. I think it was over and done for us with that thrash/speed thing and that was the end of the line. If we would have continued with another album it would have been totally different from the first one. To answer your question about Swedish bands, Hexenhaus (first album) and Damien were cool.
Any particular music that tickles Magnus’ balls these days? What have impressed you lately? Please say Lady GaGa. Kesha is ok too.
Lady GaGa? Ha ha, why? I´d rather listen to Bay city rollers or the Osmonds… Even crap music was better in the old days.. But there are some stuff like Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Ryan Adams that might have passed my ears without annoying me too much.
Would it be an understatement to say that Agony were quite influenced by the likes of Metallica and Exodus, only you managed to make your own sound out of it?
They were definitely our biggest influences along with Slayer, mine anyway. It wasn’t like everybody in the band listened to the same stuff. I think we all agreed of where we were heading right then, even though the other guys had a history of playing punk and I had a different background. But we all liked different kind of music also, Tommy always discovered something new. Pelle had his favourites, Bad Brains was one them if I´m not mistaken. Pete was a big Discharge fan, but I think they all were. I´m not really sure about Nappe but he was definitely into Discharge, that band seemed to have made a big impression on everyone. I had never heard of them when I joined the band.
Let’s go back to the old days again… Were Agony hanging out with any other bands from that era? Who were you friends with and are you still in contact with some of those people to this day?
We weren’t really hanging out with other bands but each one of us knew some guys in other bands of course. We knew the guys in Hexenhaus/Manninya Blade for instance. They were a nice bunch. We met Candlemass occasionally of course. We also made friends with Ragne and Styrbjörn from Heavy Load, they had a studio and we actually recorded the demo “Night of the emperor” there. They did a good job. I have no contact today with those guys today except for Rick Meister but I can only speak for myself.
If you can have one word to describe how you want Agony as a band and “The first defiance” as an album to be remembered, which one would you pick?
AGONIZING.
I will never be able to express my gratitude to you for taking the time to do this interview and clearing up alot of questions that I have been wondering about during the years by doing so. We are heading towards the end here . Is there anything you wanna say to all the people who still love that album to pieces and who will always hold you as the finest thrash act Sweden (and the world) ever produced? This is your chance to do so. Thank you so much for “The first defiance”. It has obviously meant shitloads to me in my career as a musician. I wish you nothing but good things, and the same goes to the rest of the people who were in the band. Global Domination takes a bow to you all.
Well, that is extremely nice of you to say! I wish YOU all the best further on in the music business! Thanks also on behalf of the other Agony members. What I like to say to all of you Agony fans is just THANK YOU!
All the best/
Magnus
