The $. 25 overview
From: NYC
Formed: 1989
Genre: Metal / Hard Rock
More Info: http://www.lifeofagony.com/
What they sound like
Sludgy guitars. Growling, wailing, howling vocals. Pounding drums. Think Type O Negative meets Helmet & Alice in Chains in a dive bar to jam when in walks ...And Justice For All era Metallica followed closely by Danzig.
Interesting to note here is that if you look at this collection of "related artists" - there's an obvious NYC hardcore / metal scene thread running through them all. To call Life of Agony anything less than a forefather in that scene would be, I don't know, "blasphemous."
Why I love them
It's nearly impossible to listen to River Runs Red or Ugly without wanting to sing along at the top of your lungs - whether you know the lyrics or not. There's something so perfect about the construction of their songs: the power of the music plus the immense emotional outpouring from Keith Caputo creates this need for your own emotional explosion.
To listen to Life of Agony is to have a gut-wrenching sing along experience. I feel exhausted after listening to them. Drained. And it's fucking beautiful and I just want to do it again.
Despite releasing other albums, in my world, Life of Agony stopped existing after their second album. Caputo has said he just didn't have the heart for the music anymore and man does it show; completely ditching their founding sound, they became this generic, radio rock band. Blah.
While many people favor their first album (River Runs Red), to be honest, I've always felt that Ugly was stronger overall. It also has one of my favorite cover songs (of all time)! Both albums are strongly thematic and deal with different sides of painful, dysfunctional family situations but, Ugly feels like a strong kick to the gut whereas River Runs Red feels like an afternoon sob-fest.
Don't get me wrong, both albums are fucking great, I just prefer Ugly.
Songs to check out
Through and Through
River Runs Red
I Regret
Damned If I Do
