A Place Where There’s No More Pain by Life Of Agony is their first studio album in 12 years, but only their fifth overall in their career. That being said, this is still probably a new band to a lot of people. So I’m going to help you understand the importance of this band and this album. Very few bands at this level can be considered somehow underrated, yet still be vital after twenty-five years. Let alone, make one of their best albums after all this time. From the opener ‘Meet My Maker’, to the final notes of closer ‘Little Spots of You’, this record is an emotional juggernaut that has no filler. With 10 songs that are instant classics, the album represents a heartfelt tour-DE-force sure to resonate with anyone, whether you are an old-school head, or just discovering the band for the first time.

With tracks from ‘Meet My Maker’, to ‘World Gone Mad’, and ‘Walking Catastrophe’, most of the songs on APWTNMP are mini-lyrical thought machines. All are a glimpse into the mind of singer Mina Caputo. The title track has incredible poetic lines and vocal phrasing that is just so damn catchy. ‘Dead Speak Kindly’ acts as LOA’s answer to grief counseling for the world. With ‘A New Low’, we’re on a roller coaster ride with a person who’s lost in the world around them and can’t relate.

There are musical moments every track where the players shine. Drummer Sal Albruscato lays down the beat to one of the most grooving and hard-hitting songs on the title track. It’s the shortest song out of the bunch, but it makes me want to jump in a speeding car, or get into the pit and start skanking. Maybe both! ‘Right This Wrong’ has some of Joey Z’s best guitar work ever. His solos scream the message of the “drowning souls in misery” as the verse says. Alan Robert’s bass intro to ‘Bag of Bones’ feels like an homage to the late Peter Steel of Type O Negative, who was a mentor and friend of the band in their formative years in Brooklyn. “The Green Man” would be smiling, if he smiled. Mina’s vocal flourishes at the end of the track make this my favorite on the record. It’s just a beautiful song. Every note hits an emotion in me, It deals with the self-doubt that we all feel in life, and what the end game is for us all. ‘Song For The Abused’ is fairly self-explanatory, and takes us to the album closer, ‘Little Spots of You’. It’s a dark and haunting piano led tale, that sees through the eyes of someone discovering a loved one after a suicide. This comes directly from the DNA of the heart-breaking final seconds of their classic début, River Runs Red (Roadrunner). A slick and somber end to this ten song opus.

For older fans, it will sound as if their previous albums Ugly and Soul Searching Sun (both Roadrunner) had a baby, and this is the result. If Life Of Agony is a new band to you, soak this music in and let it take you over. It’s a hard-rocking, mood ring of a record that should be playing on repeat for a long time. Clearly, it’s the next logical progression, and it might as well be considered the rebirth of LOA.

9.5/10

OMAR CORDY