REVIEW: Life of Agony, Soul Searching Sun (Roadrunner)

- Sean Eric McGill

When I'm not reviewing music for Consumable, I'm quite often reviewing films for other publications. One of the basic issues that I address with every new film - especially those with established actors, directors, etc. - is that regardless of their previous work, you have to take this new element of their career as a potentially different chapter. For instance, John Travolta wouldn't be the star he is now if people constantly made mental reference to Look Whos Talking Now!.

What does this have to do with bands, and more specifically, Life of Agony's new release Soul Searching Sun? A lot, actually. No matter how hard you try, it's hard to view a bands newest release without looking at it in context of what has gone before by the band. As different as it is to their other albums, everybody had a good idea going in what the new Green Day was going to sound like, and the same goes for most any artist. True, there are those like David Byrne who continue to push the boundaries of their particular image with each release, but they are the exception, not the rule. Want proof? Ask one hundred Metallica fans what they thought of Load .

Now what this has to do with Life of Agony is simple: I can't view them in terms of their past releases, simply because I don't have any of their past releases. Soul Searching Sun, their third release, contains the first songs by the Brooklyn-based band that Ive ever heard. But, through some intrepid Jimmy Olson-esque reporting (I read the bio and called the label), I was able to come across the following:

1. Life of Agony is comprised of some funny guys.

2. They are kinda-sorta kindred spirits with their labelmates Type O Negative (their cover of "Lets Pretend" is one of the CDs bonus tracks).

3. They used to be a lot harder than they are now.

And there, Watson, lies the interesting part. If you are familiar with Life of Agony, then you know how hard they used to be. And even though I'm not familiar with their earlier work (sorta - a remixed version of "River Runs Red" appears on the album as a bonus, and it's pretty damn heavy) I can tell you that they aren't that heavy now.

Not that this is a bad thing. Soul Searching Sun is packed with some of the tightest songwriting and execution I've heard this year. Most of the songs linger in that limbo realm between "harder rock" and "alternative", but dont quite make it into "alterna-rock", or whatever nifty marketing phrase you want to use. Produced by Phil Nicolo (Rolling Stones/Dishwalla/The Police) and the band, Soul Searching Sun is truly an exercise in experimentation, regardless of the bands past. The lyrics are brutally honest but not brutal, and the music is straightforward and direct while still allowing the band to show a variety of facets to their sound. One facet, their use of harmony, is pretty much a universal aspect of the album. It shows up in the choruses of not only the melodic "My Mind is Dangerous", but the much-heavier "Whispers" and every other song in between.

Since Soul Searching Sun came across my desk, I've read and heard (all through the aforementioned Olsen-esque reporting) that Life of Agony's true venue of choice is on stage. And while Soul Searching Sun is a solid studio album, I would have liked to have gotten more of a feel for the bands life show from its sound. Of course, this could be partly due to the fact that I haven't seen them live, or maybe because they're not coming anywhere near me so that I could check them out.

Either way, Soul Searching Sun is a quality rock album in every respect. For those of you familiar with the band, it may or may not throw you for a curve, but it's still a pitch worth taking a swing at.