It’s been a decade and a change in the sex of their lead singer since Brooklyn’s Life of Agony released their last album, but the band announced today that they’ve signed a deal with Napalm Records that will see the release of their fifth album, A Place Where There’s No More Pain. There’s no word on when the album will be out, other than sometime this year, but they have released the album artwork for the record. Life of Agony had reunited for the second time in 2014, playing Europe and New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom that year. They played several dates last year as well, but this is the first we’d heard that they were making another album. Here’s what bassist Alan Robert said about it:
“I think our fans know that our music comes from a very real place of suffering, from all of us in the band. Many of our fans have told us over the years that sharing our personal struggles has been cathartic for them in healing the pain in their own lives. That uplifting energy we share at the shows, gives us hope that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. And for us and hopefully our fans, that short time when we’re all together is a place where there’s no more pain.”
Forming in 1989, Life of Agony were essentially a hardcore band when they released their debut album, River Runs Red, on Roadrunner in 1993. Their subsequent releases found the band gravitating more towards rock and roll, until 2007, when singer Keith Caputo left the band. After a stint with Ugly Kid Joe singer Whitfield Crane on vocals, they split in 1999. They first reunited in 2003, releasing their fourth album, Broken Valley, in 2005. in 2011, the band broke up. That was also the year Caputo transitioned from male to female, and she’s now Mina Caputo. Her change hasn’t lessened the impact of Life of Agony in any way – in fact, the New Jersey shows both sold out almost instantly, and Life of Agony fans are loving and supportive. This will be the first Life of Agony album she sings on as Mina Caputo.
[band photo: Jeremy Saffer]
