Life Of Agony – Broken Valley
(Epic)

When Life of Agony broke up in late 1997, shortly after releasing “Soul Searching Sun”, I was devastated. It was one of the only times I can ever think of that I was incredibly sad to see a group disband. Since then through Roadrunner and SPV we’ve seen just as many posthumous releases from the band as there were actual albums. Keith Caputo briefly formed a group called Absolute Bloom, released an acclaimed solo album “Died Laughing”, an acoustic version/rarities album entitled “Pure”, the experimental EP “Perfect Little Monsters” and a livealbum called “Live Monsters”. There’s also a projectout there called “Freax” he was a part of that I never got to hear.

The rest of the band however… first they trudged on with Ugly Kid Joe singer Whitfield Crane at the helm, then each ventured off into craptacular Saliva-esque bands such as StereoMud and Among Thieves.

The band re-united for a successful tour last year, and quickly decided amongst themselves to reform and record new material. It was a good choice. Broken Valley, probably my most anticipated record from this year thus far, is another great album from the band.

The album sounds like where Life of Agony probably would have been right now had they never broken up, which is a feat in itself. I had expected they might have latched on to the current trend, but they have generally remained true to the sound and lyrical style that had earned them a cult following over the years. However, while Keith’s hippie-ish leanings from his solo days aren’t anywhere to be found, you can see some of the WWE entrance theme style rock Alan Robertand Joey Z have been endulging in. Most fans knowthat the band was never all that far from this territory though, and have musically been somewhat derivative their entire career. This album still reeks of early 90s alternative/hard rock influence, with riffs and vocal parts that remind very much of Alice In Chains (”Junk Sick”) and Stone Temple Pilots(”Don’t Bother”). The main riff of “Last Cigarette”even reminds of GNR/Velvet Revolver. I can’t say there’s much of their hardcore past to be found anymore, but that was pretty much gone after “River Runs Red” anyways, a classic album that was hardcore more in its production and Keiths rich voice than anything else. When you hear them play the old songs live you can hear how their riff writing isn’t as different throughout their entire catalogue as you’d think.

Despite the underrated contributions of Robert as a songwriter/lyricist and the impressive guitar solos from Joey Z, the show really is vocalist Keith Caputo. Truly Keith puts more passion, so much more ofhimself, into his performance. Over the years he’smoved many a tough guy rocker to tears with his personal stories of loss and grief, which have rarely been overwrought, mainly due to the sheer honesty and sincere emotion he is able to convey. It helps having a good vocal range too.

Its safe to say there are more potential hits on this album than on any one before. The first single “Love to Let You Down” has a catchy enough chorus to hit modern rock radio, but I don’t know about that computer themed video being much help. Likewise, the rousing choruses of “Strung Out” and “The Day He Died”are moving enough to at least grow their cult fanbase even larger, possibly moving into mainstream status. The fact that they are now on Epic instead of Roadrunner opens up a number of possibilities for the band. But who knows, Epic might pull a Sepultura on them and send them running back to an indie with their tail between their legs.

There are a few songs I’d say border on filler here. Neither “Justified” or “No One Survives” really staywith you. They’re not bad songs but they don’t holdup to the quality of the rest of the disc.

Overall though I’d recommend that if you’re a LOA fan already, don’t spend too much time comparing this to the past. But if you must know, its much more like “Ugly” than “Soul Searching Sun”. As a stand-alone album this is good stuff. If this was a new band people would be stoked. — Goon

SCORE:

Recommended If You Like: Keith Caputo, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Velvet Revolver