Life Of Agony

In the organizer's words:

Life of Agony: The alternative metal legends on tour this fall! Five German shows in November, special guests: Ugly Kid Joe

Presented by Rock Hard and Rock Antenne

Special Guest: Ugly Kid Joe

Support: XSKULL8

Among the leading alternative and metal bands that established their worldwide success in the 1990s, Life of Agony play a special role in many respects. Firstly, they are regarded as one of the first internationally acclaimed rock acts to manage the balancing act between the massive heaviness of metal and the emotional intensity of alternative rock with such artistry and playfulness. They are also probably the only metal band known worldwide to postulate their final demise twice with complete conviction - only to return two years later almost in their original line-up. Musically, Life of Agony are in a league of their own, if only because their six albums differ greatly from one another in terms of style and sound, but at the same time always bear a clearly recognizable signature and have always been internationally successful. This is because the artistic core - which is unusual for emphatically hard rock music - of dark romanticism, consuming melancholy with a rarely striking melodiousness, gripping emotionality alternating with brute passages and a lyrical subtlety in the contemplation of mental illness has always remained the same. This is precisely where Life of Agony are masters of their craft: giving people with mental illnesses and all their pain, fears and everyday problems not only a musical home, but also the feeling of being understood. It is no coincidence that their first, globally successful album "River Runs Red", which was voted one of the "100 best metal albums of all time" by US Rolling Stone, and their latest work "The Sound of Scars", which was released in 2019, revolve around one and the same fictional person who is trying to find their place in the world between a longing for death, despair, identity crises and depression.
On their five German shows, the New York quartet will be accompanied by the hard rockers Ugly Kid Joe, who were also founded in 1989, have been active again since 2010 after a 14-year break and have released two new albums since then. These two bands are a special package from a purely historical point of view, as they share a unique bond: after Keith Caputo left Life of Agony in 1997, the band hired a new frontman for the following three years until their first split: Ugly Kid Joe singer Whitfield Crane.