Brooklyn, New York's Life of Agony are an uncompromising alternative metal band. Beginning with 1993's now legendary River Runs Red, thrash and post D-beat downtuned metal riffs jostled one another for dominance in songs that contained more melody, emotional honesty, and physicality than most of their peers. The band won a fan base early on with the intense energy of their live shows and their hybrid sound behind the clean vocals of Keith Caputo (now Mina Caputo), and as early as 1995's Top 200 entry Ugly, the band crafted melodies that wed riffs to hooks and lyrics that resonated even outside the underground scene. As their reputation and revenues grew, so did tensions within the band. Caputo left after Soul Searching Sun, a commercially successful album that brought them to the brink of mainstream recognition. The band ultimately split after a tour with Ugly Kid Joe; vocalist Whitfield Crane replaced Caputo, but the writing was on the wall. Three years after a reunion tour, they issued the ill-fated Broken Valley, on which Sony embedded the infamous Root Kit software. A court order forced the album to be withdrawn from store shelves. It was the band's final studio outing for 12 years. In the interim, Caputo transitioned fully to Mina, and the band split and reunited again, issuing 2017's A Place Where There's No More Pain on the Napalm label.

Singer Keith Caputo, guitarist Joey Z., and bassist Alan Robert played the New York underground scene with several different drummers. They perfected their angst-filled hardcore/heavy metal hybrid along the way, obtaining a devoted audience in the process. On the eve of signing with Roadrunner Records, the band enlisted former Type O Negative drummer Sal Abruscato as a permanent member. The resulting album, River Runs Red, was similar to their stage show at the time -- straight-up energy and aggression in a hardcore/thrash format, with shards of heavy metal cutting through at times. The group toured extensively upon its release.

Once the tour was completed, LOA went directly back into the studio to work on their next album, 1995's Ugly, which signaled a complete overhauling of the band's signature heavy-duty sound. The album resembled the sounds of the alternative stars of the day, especially Stone Temple Pilots, and it wasn't greeted favorably by the record-buying public. LOA were still able to retain their audience, and the resulting tour was a success, as they opened for the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Type O Negative, and Anthrax. Drummer Abruscato exited the band after the tour, and was replaced by ex-Pro Pain/Crumbsuckers drummer Dan Richardson. Their next release, 1997's Soul Searching Sun, followed essentially the same formula as its predecessor, and was again met by a varied response.

Keith Caputo left the group before the tour, letting the members know that his heart was no longer in the music. The other bandmembers were crushed, but because of their commitments they needed to fill the spot immediately. At an Anthrax show a few years before, former Ugly Kid Joe vocalist Whitfield Crane had told Joey Z. about his desire to play heavier music, so LOA's manager spoke to Crane and he jumped at the chance. The new lineup had only a week to rehearse, and the bandmembers barely knew Crane when they let him join. Once the tour ended, they went back to the studio to record, only to realize that they no longer wanted to continue as Life of Agony without Caputo. They flirted with the idea of Robert singing with Stuck Mojo bassist Corey Lowery filling his spot, but the lineup was doomed from the start and the band officially disbanded in April of 1999.

That was the final word on Life of Agony until 2003, when the original lineup reunited for two shows. The reunion led to a live album (River Runs Again) as well as the studio effort Broken Valley, issued on Epic Records in June 2005. In 2009, Life of Agony performed their debut album, River Runs Red, in its entirety as well as other material in front of a sold-out house in Brussels, Belgium. They recorded and filmed (via a ten-camera shoot) the proceedings. In 2010, I Scream Records released the CD/DVD package, 20 Years Strong: River Runs Red, Live in Brussels. The following year the band once again decided to go on hiatus after unsuccessful attempts to produce new material that they felt did justice to the band's name. That same year, Caputo announced that he was in the process of gender reassignment and transitioned to Mina Caputo. In 2014, the group announced they had re-formed and headed to Belgium to play the Alcatraz Hard Rock & Metal Festival, following it up with a show in New Jersey just a few months later. By 2017, the group had recorded their fifth studio album and announced they had signed to Napalm Records. The resulting A Place Where There's No More Pain was issued at the beginning of the year. Two years later, with new drummer Veronica Bellino (Jeff Beck), Life of Agony delivered The Sound of Scars, a conceptual sequel to River Runs Red issued some 26 years before. Produced and mixed by the Grammy-winning Sylvia Massy, it was issued in August of 2019. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi