Angels & Agony

Based in The Netherlands, Angels & Agony was forged in the fall of 1995 by Reinier Kahle. Long-time friend and guitarist Erik Wierenga joined to add a little edge to the live performances, to be followed by scene DJ Marco van Belle as manager/booker and later during live shows on synthesizer and backing vocals. Fried Bruggink, musician and sound engineer, plays drum pads during live performances.



In 1999 the mcd Unity was released on Aragon Records, produced by Axel Ermes and received excellent reviews from The Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium and the US. Unity featured the club hit One and appeared on a number of compilation cd's. From now, it all moved forward.



2000 was a good start for Angels & Agony, signing a contract with Out Of Line Records, one of Germany's leading scene labels.



After releasing the single Darkness, the full-length album Eternity (2001) was released, produced by good friend Ronan Harris of VNV Nation.

In 2002 the Forever ep was released, followed by the Salvation ep in 2003.



In November 2004 Angels & Agony’s second full length album Avatar was released, containing 17(!) tracks. Along with the regular album, a limited edition digipak cd was released, including a 4 track bonus cd with multi-media track.



From this album onward, Universal Music became Angels & Agony’s world-wide publisher. Metropolis Records released Avatar in the USA. On Unison, the songs are more accessible and up-tempo. Where Avatar was an invitation to self-reflect and introspect, to evaluate thoughts, feelings and emotions, Unison invites to a more vigorous and dynamic approach, resulting in more powerful and danceable songs. First look inward (Avatar), then outward (Unison).



The lyrics of Angels & Agony deal with metaphysical, philosophical issues, visions distilled from Buddhism and Tao, combined with intensely perceptive speculations on society, life and death. Ying & Yang, You & I, Angels & Agony.

Although the music can be dark and melancholic, but still danceable with pumping beats and sequences, the songs have a very positive message.