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Sal Abruscato from A Pale Horse Named Death (his NEW band), has an extensive history in the Heavy Music world thanks to his stellar work with Life Of Agony and Type O Negative, in which his role was to kick ass on the drums.
With Type O Negative he recorded: "Slow, Deep & Hard", "Origin Of The Feces", and "Bloody Kisses", while with Life Of Agony he recorded "River Runs Red", "Ugly", "River Runs Again", and "Broken Valley".
Abruscato was recently interviewed by Maciej Szatko in Wroclaw, Poland. This is what he had to say when asked about the future of Life Of Agony:
"We're not gonna play [anymore]. We moved out of our studio. We all kind of feel like we're at the end. We're never gonna make another record, because of those kinds of problems I was talking about [earlier in the interview] — we can't agree on writing a song. And Keith [Caputo, vocals] wants to pursue his life and his lifestyle. And that's pretty much the reason why also I've moved on and I'm doing my own thing… to just keep going; I didn't want my career to stop with Life Of Agony. Life Of Agony doesn't tour, Life Of Agony doesn't do much. And so we were at a point where it was like… We did the last three shows in July [2011] and then we moved out of our studio, and that's it. I don't foresee anything in the future; I highly doubt it. I don't know how that would happen."
Apparently various media outlets out there want to misinform the public just so they can get attract eyeballs. While this is nothing new in the media world, here at Horns Up Rocks we believe in checking your sources before writing anything at all, since we believe in responsible journalism.
First of all, we have confirmation from many sources close to the band that Keith Caputo, singer from Life Of Agony, did NOT get a sex change. Yes he likes dressing like a women, and yes he likes putting make up on. But so did Dennis Rodman! And did he get a sex change? We think not! In case you don't know, transsexualism is an individual's identification with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their biological sex. It has NOTHING to do with undergoing a sex change operation!
Here is a Twit by Keith Caputo that helped create this ridiculous rumor:
"M2F transexuals like mê are the women who give up male privilege for femininity! Threaten the patriarchy!" (July 7 at 11:34 PM)
But then a few days later Caputo twitted this:
"Dying to make love to my lady. Haven't seen her in 2 months. Dying to hold her & be held. Never letting her go. Just a few more days. The Art Of Love!" (July 12 at 1:36 AM)
Second of all, when we interviewed Life Of Agony's guitarist Joey Zampella earlier this year (video interview below), he told us that they have been talking about writing some new songs but that they will do it when the time is right since all of the band members are busy with other projects. Again, it was a Twit by Caputo that caused the rumor that the band is calling it a day:
"Off to Europe tomorrow, 7pm. Most likely our last..." (July 12 at 11:49 AM)
Life Of Agony will be performing in Europe this weekend!
- 7/15: Kantine in Augsburg, DE
- 7/16: Dour Festival in Dour, BE
- 7/17: Zwarte Cross Festival in Lichtenvoorde, NL
Aren't rock-stars suppose to be outrageous, wild, and say things that cause controversy? In the wise words of Max Cavalera: DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ!
After working on their craft for over 20 years, it can be said that Life Of Agony are living legends and that their status as a cult band is not in vain. Through their original music and their mission to be the best they can be every time they step on stage, the band has inspired many musicians to pick up an instrument and start creating some epic music. Life Of Agony is a proud member of the New York Hardcore community, and along with Type O Negative and Biohazard, they have become synonymous to the New York City underground music scene. Today, all three bands can be pointed at for being a key asset of the revitalization of the New York City Heavy Music underground scene.
Recently, the band Misery held their CD listening party for their latest album titled “Evil Is Crowned” at Duff’s Brooklyn. You may be asking yourself what this has to do with Life Of Agony. Well, the album was produced by Life Of Agony’s legendary guitarist Joey Zampella, most commonly known as Joey Z. As we all know Life Of Agony hasn’t been fully active in the recent past, but this does not mean that they haven’t been busy contributing their craft to the music scene. Joey did an excellent job with Misery’s latest album by making sure everything was meticulously crafted, just how he does with everything he does with Life Of Agony (Joey serves as Tour Manager).
We obviously had to talk to Joey about his role as a producer, and how working with other musicians has helped him keep his music career right on path. Needless to say, we talked about the legacy of Life Of Agony and what the near future holds for the band who were recently part of a special on MTV2's Headbangers Ball and also played a few shows in the New York area in front of hundreds of fans that were mesmerized by the power behind Life Of Agony!
Without further due, here is the exclusive video interview we did with Joey Z at Duff’s Brooklyn on the day of our 1 Year Anniversary. We want to thank Joey, Jimmy Duff, Sage Thyme, Jay Sanchez and you for reading this! \m/
Brooklyn's Life of Agony surfaced in 1989 when singer Keith Caputo, guitarist Joey Zampella, and bassist Alan Robert, took the New York underground scene by storm. They quickly perfected their angst-filled hybrid of Heavy Metal and Hardcore, obtaining a devoted audience in the process. On the eve of signing with Roadrunner Records, the band recruited former Type O Negative drummer Sal Abruscato as a permanent member. The end result was the first Life Of Agony album “River Runs Red”, which became an instant classic. Thanks to their straight-up energy and aggression in a crossover format, the group toured extensively upon its release.
Once the tour was completed, Life Of Agony went back into the studio to work on their next album titled "Ugly", which signaled a complete change of the band's signature Heavy sound. The album resembled the sounds of the alternative stars of the day, especially Stone Temple Pilots, which the record-buying public didn’t favor. Regardless of the record sales, Life O Agony was still able to retain their audience and the resulting tour was a success. Evidence of this success were their tours with Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, Type O Negative, and Anthrax. After the end of the tour, drummer Sal Abruscato exited the band and was replaced by Dan Richardson (formerly from Pro Pain/Crumbsuckers). Their next release was "Soul Searching Sun", which followed the same formula as its predecessor, and was again met by a varied response.
Before the band was scheduled to go on tour, singer Keith Caputo left the group because his heart was no longer in the music. The other band members were crushed, but because of their commitments with the record label, they needed to fill the spot right away. Former Ugly Kid Joe vocalist Whitfield Crane, who had told Joey Z during an Anthrax show about his intentions to play heavier music, filed Caputo’s shoes.
The new lineup only had one week to rehearse and get to know each other musically. Once the tour ended, they went back to the studio and decided that they didn't want to continue as Life of Agony without Caputo. They even flirted with the idea of having their bassist Alan Robert singing and having Stuck Mojo bassist Corey Lowery fill his spot. This strategy never worked and the band disbanded in April of 1999.
In 2003, the original lineup reunited for two shows. The reunion led to a live album titled "River Runs Again", followed by a studio album titled "Broken Valley" (released in June 2005).
In 2009, Life of Agony performed their legendary debut album "River Runs Red" in front of a sold out crowd in Brussels Belgium. They filmed the concert in its entirety, and later released a CD/DVD package titled "20 Years Strong: River Runs Red, Live in Brussels".
Now on a more personal note: In January 1998, I went to see Life Of Agony in Toronto not to long after coming back from Italy. Excited as I was about finally going to see the band that got me through some very rough times in my life, everything from addiction to dealing with my father’s death. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to experience on that stage. That night I saw two amazing bands: Megadeth and Life Of Agony...
So the show starts with “River Runs Red”, but what I heard was totally noticeable. Everyone started saying: “Hey that’s not Keith!” “What the fuck?!” Apparently no one was informed that Keith had left the band, man was I pissed! After waiting for so long to see Life Of Agony... and I get Whitfield Crane instead of Keith Caputo. I was never a fan of Ugly Kid Joe and I certainly was not going to like him singing Keith's songs. There was only one thing left to do to show my frustration, and this is when I noticed one thing: everyone was just as frustrated as I was! So what do I do next? I start a “We want Keith” chant. Crane definitely saw and heard the crowds discomfort, as Toronto raised their middle fingers instead of their horns, demanding Keith Caputo. I had no choice but to enjoy the instrumental aspect of the show. With that being said, I hope that Life Of Agony can come back to Toronto at and give me the concert I so badly want to see.
No matter what, I am and will always be a fan of Life Of Agony for life! And for that I raise both hands in the air and give this band the Horns Up!!!! Cheers.
