From the vaults: Life of Agony – Broken Valley (2005)
From hardcore bruisers to post-grunge songsmiths, the career of Life of Agony has twisted and turned with each successive record – comparing the crafted and polished writing of ‘Broken Valley’ to the aching rawness of their ‘River Runs Red’ debut evokes a chasm in terms of finesse, but in terms of aesthetic – the experience of catharsis and channelling of the human condition – they have more in common than their sonic palette might suggest.
Here, L.O.A sound like Velvet Revolver with better songs. The ultra-heavy hardcore-meets-metal, Helmet inspired riffage of their earlier work gives way to a sound which, although still drenched in punk, is filtered through Husker Du and Stone Temple Pilots. The result is a sound that is layered, delicate and desperate. They cooked up something truly special: this is music as catharsis which unglues the darkness of your soul, and soothes it.
‘Love To Let You Down’ booms out of the speakers with a rumbling, grubby riff and incessant vocal delivery from Keith Caputo. ‘Last Cigarette’ evokes a darkened New York Dolls punk and swirls around a hook which builds and builds to the point of ecstasy. At times, the guitar sound is poignantly painful: on ‘Wicked Ways’ it is dying, and on ‘Junk Sick’ the tone is tortured, wrestling with Caputo for control of the song, the sound of a band truly on fire. But for all the power of the performances, it’s the songs which truly sparkle. ‘The Calm That Disturbs You’ is a jittering, jilting piece of alt. rock distrubia wrapped up in luscious melodies; and ‘Strung Out’ is built upon a chorus of Old Testament proportions, the perfect vehicle for its baleful take on addiction – this is no staid angst, nor dourful lament for its own sake. Caputo’s broken caresses never over-sell the emotion of his subject, and on the title track and ‘Justified’ L.O.A deliver lullabies for the dispossessed – songs which capture those moments in our lives which no-one else should see. Few metal bands harness fragility to such powerful effect.
From hardcore bruisers to post-grunge songsmiths, the career of Life of Agony has twisted and turned with each successive record – comparing the crafted and polished writing of ‘Broken Valley’ to the aching rawness of their ‘River Runs Red’ debut evokes a chasm in terms of finesse, but in terms of aesthetic – the experience of catharsis and channelling of the human condition – they have more in common than their sonic palette might suggest.
Here, L.O.A sound like Velvet Revolver with better songs. The ultra-heavy hardcore-meets-metal, Helmet inspired riffage of their earlier work gives way to a sound which, although still drenched in punk, is filtered through Husker Du and Stone Temple Pilots. The result is a sound that is layered, delicate and desperate. They cooked up something truly special: this is music as catharsis which unglues the darkness of your soul, and soothes it.
‘Love To Let You Down’ booms out of the speakers with a rumbling, grubby riff and incessant vocal delivery from Keith Caputo. ‘Last Cigarette’ evokes a darkened New York Dolls punk and swirls around a hook which builds and builds to the point of ecstasy. At times, the guitar sound is poignantly painful: on ‘Wicked Ways’ it is dying, and on ‘Junk Sick’ the tone is tortured, wrestling with Caputo for control of the song, the sound of a band truly on fire. But for all the power of the performances, it’s the songs which truly sparkle. ‘The Calm That Disturbs You’ is a jittering, jilting piece of alt. rock distrubia wrapped up in luscious melodies; and ‘Strung Out’ is built upon a chorus of Old Testament proportions, the perfect vehicle for its baleful take on addiction – this is no staid angst, nor dourful lament for its own sake. Caputo’s broken caresses never over-sell the emotion of his subject, and on the title track and ‘Justified’ L.O.A deliver lullabies for the dispossessed – songs which capture those moments in our lives which no-one else should see. Few metal bands harness fragility to such powerful effect.
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