Artist: Agabas
Title: Hard Anger
Format: LP, Digital
Label: self-released
Distribution: n/a
Genre: Deathjazz/ Mathcore/ Progressive Metal
Release Date: 13/06/2025
Agabas’ highly anticipated third studio album Hard Anger, recorded in a small fjord cabin in Hardanger, Norway is set for release on the 13th of June. Expect brutally downtuned breakdowns mixed with ferocious jazz saxophone, blast beats for days, thundering bass tones, and the beautiful poetic sound of the Norwegian language aggressively spat in your face.
Agabas has already been pushing boundaries on their previous releases with their signature ‘deathjazz’ style, but this album pushes everything further by a landslide. Saxophones ran through fuzz pedals, intensely fast paced jazz solos cutting through dissonant chugs of double dropped guitars – this is deathjazz. Faster, heavier, crazier, and more brutal than ever.
Hard Anger features guest performances by blackjazz veterans Shining on the track Jævla menneske and New York subway legend Michael Wilbur on Vis meg alt.
Agabas are renowned for their live energy and presence, a feat they’ve recently showcased on a support tour with Kvelertak in the fall of 2024. Translating this energy into a studio performance is no easy task, but the raging sounds of Hard Anger shows that it is possible. According to the band, there is something about the idyllic tranquility of the beautiful Hardanger fjords that really does bring out the most aggressive musical tendencies you can imagine. And that’s not the only influence of the crisp Hardanger nature on the album – during their time there, the band walked around recording samples of the natural sounds of the local area to use in the music. Calming waterfalls, creaking stairs of 800 year old houses, and eerie church bells struck by century old swords, all scattered across the songs of the album, layered in heaps of distortion of course.
The band documented their recording sessions on a series of Instagram reels, gathering over 1,6 million views and 35.000 new followers. On a mission to show the world that jazz can indeed be brutally heavy, Agabas is winning over metal fans with their charming sense of humor and self irony, as well as a dead serious devotion to their craft. As is blatantly apparent when listening to the bands music, these guys know how to play their instruments, and they treat both the metal influences and jazz influences in their music with the highest respect.
The 36-something minutes of Hard Anger takes you on a journey of death metal, hardcore, progressive metal, jazz, black metal, and at times even some punk. All sewn together masterfully and thoughtfully, without ever compromising on the pure chaos and energy of the music. Give this album a spin if you’ve ever wondered if jazz and metal could mix, or if you simply want to listen to a really good, really heavy record.
Tracklist
01. Kjærlighet for alle
02. Jævla menneske (feat. Shining)
03. En vakker himmel
04. La blodet flomme
05. Se det for deg
06. Vis meg alt (feat. Michael Wilbur)
07. Råte
08. En enkel sjel
09. Arv
10. På åpent hav
Links
Official: https://agabas.no
Bandcamp: https://agabas.bandcamp.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/agabas.band
Facebook: https://facebook.com/agabasband
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@agabastheband
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@agabas.band
Shop: http://agashop.no
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