Soul Searching Sun
At one time, Life of Agony was a bleak, Goth metal band comparable to Type O Negative, but the only thing headbangers will find agonizing about Life of Agony is having to sit through the band'sSoul Searching Sun. While the bandmembers still have a penchant for beefy guitars and surging wah-wah solos, it sounds like they've been listening to way too many Pearl Jam records lately. Gone is the hostility and grim claustrophobia of their earlier days, replaced with artificial vulnerability and trite melodies from the Grunge 101 textbook. Top it off with obligatory song titles like "Heroin Dreams" and "Angry Tree," and you're left with a disappointing, uninspired effort.--Jon Wiederhorn