The Sound of Scars is the sixth studio album by American alternative metal band Life of Agony. It was released on October 11,2019,through Napalm Records and is the band's first release with drummer Veronica Bellino.
The Sound of Scars is a concept album dealing with issues related to trauma recovery and healing. It is a sequel to the story told on the band's debut album,River Runs Red.[2]
It was named Album of the Year by The Aquarian.[3] They described it as “A concept album in every sense possible,The Sound of it as finds Life of Agony once again digging deep into the emotional,physical,and spiritual burden of life’s endless journey—emerging hard and heavy from the lineage of yesterday like a catapult into tomorrow with each emotionally hammering track. In other words,The Sound of Scars offers fresh perspective of the human condition without any trappings of a nostalgia trip.”[3]
On August 9,2019,the hit single "Scars" premiered on Billboard[4] the song went to the number 1 spot on Music Choice with 2.44 million listeners.
Concept and Releases
in a 2023 interview the bands bassist and lyricist Alan Robert stated
“The Sound of Scars”came about very organically. The concept for tying the album to “River Runs Red”was something that evolved over time after a few songs were written. The lyrics seemed to have this common message about overcoming hardships,survival and redemption,so I brought the idea up to the band about continuing the Rivers story. What if the teenager on RRR survived his suicide attempt? What would his life be like 26 years later. We’ve met so many survivors through touring around the world all these years,and we’re survivors ourselves,that theme really resonated with all of us. We began to explore that idea even deeper and decided to create the audio scenes that continue the RRR narrative …another concept album was born.”[5]
The album starts off with the theatrical track,"Prelude",the track begins with the same sound of blood dripping into water that closed River Runs Red. In "Prelude",the listener learns that the young man from River Runs Red has survived his suicide attempt. The story then jumps 26 years forward,(which is almost the same amount of time between this album and its predecessor River Runs Red) with the man now married and attempting to cope with the "scars" of his past.[6]
On November 29,2019,a special,red/black splatter vinyl edition of The Sound of Scars was released. This Record Store Day "Black Friday" release was limited to 500 pieces worldwide and featured exclusive,alternate cover artwork by bassist Alan Robert.[7]
Documentary
A documentary film,also titled The Sound of Scars,was released April 16,2021. The film was directed by Leigh Brooks and includes interviews with the band members and their families. The film also includes archival footage,photographs,lost interviews,and goes over various points of the band's history,particularly Mina Caputo's gender transition.[8]
The Sound of Scars has received positive critical reviews since its release. Being viewed as a worthy sequel to the band's debut River Runs Red.The Aquarian and the The Sound of Scars album of the year,[3]
Dom Lawson of Blabbermouth.net praised Caputo's vocals, saying "Caputo sings every last word as if teetering on the edge of desperation, a remorseless blaze of passion and charisma that carries these songs far beyond their initial potential." Lawson also praised the band's musicianship and said the album "is a welcome display of class and power from some perennially unsung champions."[9] Jon Hadusek of Consequence of Sound praised the album's story line, Caputo's vocals, and mixing of genres, but said the more straightforward hardcore parts were the album's weakest moments. Hadusek said the album is a worthy successor to River Runs Red.[1]
The album was also named #1 Album on Metal Hammer’s (DE) ‘Best of 2019’: Alternative-Rock/Punk List.[11]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
