LIFE OF AGONY — Broken Valley (review)

LIFE OF AGONY — Broken Valley album cover Album · 2005 · Alternative Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Broken Valley" is the 4th full-length studio album by US alternative rock/metal act Life of Agony. The album was released through Epic Records in May 2005. It´s the band´s first album release since "Soul Searching Sun (1997)". Life of Agony split-up in 1999 after both drummer Sal Abruscato and lead vocalist Keith Caputo had left the band in the previous years (Abruscato already left in 1996), but reunited in 2002 in their original lineup (Completed by guitarist Joey Z. and bassist Alan Roberts).

Compared to "Soul Searching Sun (1997)" which featured a predominantly more laidback and sedated rock style, "Broken Valley" is generally more upbeat and fresh sounding. The break seems to have rejuvenated the band, and their performances sound inspired, and the songwriting more catchy and hard rocking, then the case was on the generally uninspired sounding predecessor. A slightly more hard rocking Stone Temple Pilots isn´t the worst comparison in the world. There´s of course not a trace of the ultra depressive hardcore sound of "River Runs Red (1993)" left in the music, and the music on "Broken Valley" generally don´t sound much like "Ugly (1995)" either, it´s actually the fourth consecutive album release featuring a new musical direction, but which somehow still sounds unmistakably like Life of Agony.

The material on the 12 track, 43:39 minutes long album are generally well written and hook laden vers/chorus structured hard rock songs, featuring lyrics predominantly dealing with personal issues. The quality of the material is pretty high throughout, but there are of course some tracks which stand out a bit more than others. Some of the highlights include "Love to Let You Down", "Last Cigarette", and "Strung Out". The album features a warm and powerful sounding production, and as always the musicianship is strong and the playing organic. Keith Caputo isn´t as distinct sounding as he was on the first couple of releases by the band, but his performance here is still strong and he has a suiting semi-raw delivery.

"Broken Valley" is not a hard rock revelation or anything like that, but it´s a solid release by Life of Agony and definitely a step up from the rather tedious and unremarkable "Soul Searching Sun (1997)". It´s not always comeback albums end up being an artistic (or a commercial) success, but I´ll say "Broken Valley" pretty much fits that description and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved. It´s not necessarily an album which will blow you away upon initial listen, but it grows given more spins and some of the melody lines just won´t leave your head again...
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed