When New York's
Life of Agony
released their debut album,
River Runs Red,
back in 1993, it was really something.
Not quite hardcore, not quite thrash,
but definitely heavy and dark,
it was a unique sound at an interesting time.
Both
Metallica
and Nirvana
were peaking, in one way or another,
and this album flew in the face of all that.
When the follow-up, 1995's
Ugly,
came out, it was...unexpected.
LoA had made a 90-degree turn with their sound but the results were mixed.
Despite what some may say, heavy metal
can be a progressive genre
(Black Sabbath, anyone?).
However, this was a bit of a disjointed mess.
Their audience was confused and after one more album,
Life of Agony was no more.
A few years ago they decided to give it a go again and the result is
Broken Valley,
which is what
Ugly
should have been ten years before.
The new album is still a big departure from
River Runs Red
but it's a more natural progression than a forced one.
Album opener, and single,
Love to Let You Down
(video
here)
is plenty heavy but in a different way than the past.
Progress, even in heavy metal, is a good and welcome thing
(however,
bad is not progress, it's just bad).
Broken Valley is a great return for LoA.
Check out
Justified
for more.
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