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The Agony: New Album 'Blessings & Tragedies'

All-female heavy rock band The Agony is back with a brand new album to be recorded and released this year. Join us on the journey of Blessings & Tragedies!

Author: The Agony

EUR 3,412
pledged of EUR 6,177

55%

55% completed

25 days until the end

56 contributors pledged

Music

Prague, Czechia

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All or nothing. This project will only be funded if it reaches at least its goal by Jun 24, 2026 by 19:58 CET.

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This article was published on the afternoon of April 24, 2026👇 

"If you follow the guitar scene closely, The Agony definitely couldn‘t have escaped you. For over a decade, the foursome has been proving that hard music is definitely not just a men's domain. Their shows have always been famous for their enormous energy, audacity, killer riffs and rhythm section that runs like a Swiss watch.

After their very successful third album Rising (2023), with which the girls celebrated ten years of existence in style and which took them to Europe and the UK, The Agony are not staying idle. According to current reports, they have been deep in the creative process of writing and rehearsing songs for the upcoming album number four." — Jirka Mimra, Musicweb.


Domi Vrňatová (bass guitar), Martina Kajda Balcarová (drums), Nikola Kandoussi (rhythm guitar/lead vocals), Petra Pohanková (lead guitar/vocals) | photo credit: Audrey Liška

We're excited to be back!

Three years have passed since our last album Rising and the crowdfunding campaign that preceded it. We always like to say that time flies when you're having fun, which in our case was true on several fronts.

Our band has since been blessed by a fabulous baby boy; now three quarters of the group call themselves aunts and one is a mother. Motherhood never stopped our Domi though, which is why we kept touring both at home and abroad, finally played our favorite festival Rock for People and other slots, generally carrying on with good old rock’n’roll the best we could.


photo credit: Vojta Mervart | Rock for People 2025

Months passed, but we didn't really stop and neither did our creativity. Over time, new musical ideas and plans came. It was decided that we needed a breath of fresh air, so the recording and production of our new songs would be handled by Damian Kucera, whom the top Czech music mag Headliner called the superstar producer of heavy bands.

Originally, it was supposed to be just a few singles, just for fun, just to keep going. But as the songs took full shape and more of them kept coming, we changed our minds.

We fell in love with the tracks so much that we decided to give them to you and to ourselves properly: on their own album that will have its story and a real journey behind it. Some might say album format is pretty much dead, but we tend to disagree – we still love it, and the songs are worth it.

It will be a strong release that will showcase where we are now as a band and people.

We've called the album Blessings & Tragedies.

Why are we doing crowdfunding again?

We’d probably hit the studio even without crowdfunding this time around, just to get the album out into the world. But, over the past few years, we’ve heard more than once: "How can I support you girls other than coming to a gig?"

Once again we realised that we have fans who simply want to help us, they look forward to it and would like to have this opportunity. So we said: Okay, we’ve always done crowdfunding, we've always succeeded, the fans want it, let’s keep the tradition going. And we won’t lie - thanks to you and with your support, we will get the album much further than we could have managed it on our own.


photo credit: Markéta Kolínská

What are you contributing towards?

Album recording is covered. But your support will be extremely useful for follow-up activities:

  • MERCH PRODUCTION: CDs may be a dead format, but they are a beautiful tangible memory. And merch in general is the most effective way to support any band, because all the income from sales goes directly and immediately back to them. We want to release the new album along with relevant and visually appealing merch, and make it nice and high-quality again, just like in the case of Rising.
     
  • PROMOTION: in today's world of algorithms, streaming, views, playlists and other tools, it is crucial to be visible. Releasing an album "into silence" is a musician's nightmare and we know that our new songs deserve to be heard which is now very hard to do without relevant online promo. And the tools and services of people who know how to do it well cost money. We’re hoping to achieve not only the attention that listeners and the media will pay to the album (or individual singles), but also higher interest from promoters here and in Europe / UK, which means more gigs. And more gigs means a very happy band indeed.
     
  • MUSIC VIDEO(S): we really do need one or two new video releases, but a quality music video is expensive and the real financial return is zero. Nevertheless, good visual content is a must-have for promotion. It all goes hand in hand and we know of at least three songs that would hit even harder with a proper video.

These are the three absolutely essential components. This is where your contributions will go.

Timeline

This is how we plan it, however, we reserve the right for adjustments just in case anything goes wrong.

  • May: crowdfunding project kick off, warm-up gigs ⮕ June: pre-production with Damian ⮕ July: studio time ⮕ September: first single out ⮕ October: second single out ⮕ November: album release ⮕ December: items are shipped your way.

We’re still waiting to lock the date and venue for album launch gig, so please bear with us and we’ll keep you posted.


photo credit: Marty Novotný

Finally, a bit about us, for those who don't know us yet:

The Agony was formed on April 27, 2013. We’ve played countless gigs at home and abroad: we know how to be a kick-ass opening act (ask the Scorpions, for example), we know how to play clubs, halls and arenas (our biggest milestone so far is the Prague’s O2 arena) and we’ve done many large and prestigious festivals (Rock for People, Masters of Rock, Hrady CZ, etc.).

We’ve recorded 3 albums and 2 EPs so far:

  • Loud And Furious (EP, 2013)
  • Dirty And Dangerous (LP, 2015)
  • 689 (LP, 2017)
  • Eclectic (EP, 2020)
  • Rising (LP, 2023)

And, together with you, this year we will add album number four:

  • Blessings & Tragedies (LP, 2026)

Thank you for your attention and support, we’re really looking forward to everything this year brings! Let’s go!

Niky, Kajda, Domi, Peťa // The Agony

Project links

Comments

Choose reward for your contribution

  • sold 13
    Good Vibes Only

    Not a fan of material things? Don’t need any physical or digital rewards and simply want to support the new album? Then this one’s for you. Contribute the minimum amount or anything more you’d like, and we’ll send you a coffee-fuelled thank-you by email :)

    Reward delivery: e-mail, in a week after the Hithit project end

    Pledge EUR 8.24
    (CZK 200)

  • sold 5
    Digital Release (Early Access)

    Not only you’ll get the album (songs and booklet) in digital format – you’ll also get to listen to it before anyone else does as we’ll make it available to you a week before the release. Then you can go and tell everyone how good it is ‘cos you’ve ‘heard it already’!

    Reward delivery: e-mail, in half a year after the Hithit project end

    Pledge EUR 10.25
    (CZK 249)

  • sold 3
    Exclusive Studio Access

    You’ll get the album in digital format as well as an access to restricted channel where we’ll upload various studio content as we go: videos, pics, tracks commentary, demos or working versions bits, maybe a Q&A.

    This way, wherever you are, you’ll get backstage of the recording and see us happy, stressed, creative, funny... and be a part of the process with us.

    Reward delivery: e-mail, in half a year after the Hithit project end

    Pledge EUR 20.55
    (CZK 499)

  • sold 20
    Signed CD Blessings & Tragedies

    Signed CD, to which we'll add a "Hithit only" numbered card with artwork and greetings. Ideal for collectors and those who still want to actually hold a piece of music :)

    Note: let's face it, postage is crazy these days when posting stuff abroad. If you want to take in account shipping prices, feel free to pledge a bit more to help us cover it - we'll leave it up to your decision and generosity. 

    Reward delivery: on address, in half a year after the Hithit project end

    Pledge EUR 24.67
    (CZK 599)

  • sold 2
    Balíček fanouška co nevlastní CD přehrávač (triko + digital release + studio zblízka)

    Chceš podpořit kapelu a nosit nás hrdě na triku, ale cédéčko je pro tebe zbytečný, protože si ho beztak nemáš kde přehrát? To radši budeš mít album o týden dřív v digitálním formátu, a ještě se rád/a podíváš, jak to celý ve studiu vznikalo? Nově přidaná odměna je přímo pro tebe!

    Z administrativních důvodů odměna píše doručení na poštovní adresu, ale my triko pošleme ideálně Zásilkovnou, takže nám prosíme napište preferované výdejní místo:)

    Reward delivery: on address, in half a year after the Hithit project end

    Pledge EUR 41.14
    (CZK 999)

  • sold 10
    Collector Bundle (CD, t-shirt & studio access)

    This is the bundle for true fans! A signed CD to listen to, a t-shirt to wear and studio access to witness the birth of it all.

    Note: let's face it, postage is crazy these days when posting stuff abroad. If you want to take in account shipping prices, feel free to pledge a bit more to help us cover it - we'll leave it up to your decision and generosity. 

    Reward delivery: on address, in half a year after the Hithit project end

    Pledge EUR 61.35
    (CZK 1,490)

  • remaining 3 from 5
    Video Call with the Band

    Can't make it to Prague, but you'd still like to chat and get to know more about us? Call us, we'd love to talk to you! Also included is the digital release and studio access.

    Reward delivery: in half a year after the Hithit project end

    Pledge EUR 102.53
    (CZK 2,490)

  • remaining 3 from 3
    We'll Cover (Almost) Any Song You Like

    Nothing like getting out of one's comfort zone 😁 Give us a song and at least one of us (or all of us, if we all vibe it) will cover it and send you a video of the effort :) You'll also get the digital release and studio access along with this.

    Note: We know you guys are nice and sensible, but we still reserve the right to negotiate the final song choice, just in case someone wants us to play overly technical prog rock or Norwegian doom metal... or worse! 🤣

    Reward delivery: in half a year after the Hithit project end

    Pledge EUR 221.95
    (CZK 5,390)

  • remaining 3 from 4
    The Agony Live & Loud

    IMPORTANT NOTE: This reward is for the Czech Republic only, unless of course you'd like to book us and cover the logistics costs on top of the pledge amount.

    This is an hour of our set, live & loud, the way you know it from club venues, halls and arenas. Sweaty, energetic, full blown rock and roll with catchy choruses and riffs that kick harder than Johnny Lawrence. We'll add merch (CD, t-shirt), of course.

    We will agree on the date and conditions of implementation individually. PA is not part of the reward, but we can arrange it after prior agreement. We reserve the right not to fulfill the pledge in case of inappropriate or dangerous conditions; in such a case, we will agree on an alternative solution.

    Reward delivery: in half a year after the Hithit project end

    Pledge EUR 1,008.44
    (CZK 24,490)

  • Sold out!!
    Nik's Black Explorer Guitar Signed by the Band

    Something really special coming up: Nik is offering  this guitar for the grabs!

    Whether you're a left-handed guitarist or a collector wanting to own a unique piece signed by the band (ideal for your wall), this is your chance to get a piece of band history. This is the Explorer Nik used for recording a lot of Rising parts, and played it at many gigs. We'll throw in a CD and a new pack of strings :)

    Please note that shipping costs are higher when shipping from the Czech Republic abroad. Feel free reflect this fact in your pledge amount to help us cover it, we'll leave it to your decision and generosity.

    Reward delivery: on address, in half a year after the Hithit project end

    Pledge EUR 596.66
    (CZK 14,490)

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