I consider both Life Of Agony and Madball important in making me the person I am today. They helped indirectly to shape my current musical tastes. They helped me make the friends I have today. In short, they were my stepping stone into hardcore. And put simply, hardcore changed my life. Mainly because straightedge changed my life. However, one of the band's has always had my reverence whereas the other hasn't always had my respect.
I first saw Life Of Agony supporting Prong in 1994. I didn't know anything about them then but they impressed me greatly. I was coming home from a local rock club a few months later when I met a guy who had been to the same club and was travelling the same way home. We started talking about music and he said he liked hardcore. I didn't really know what that was, I was mainly a thrasher into bands like Pantera, Sepultura, Overkill and Megadeth. However, when he mentioned bands like Life Of Agony and Biohazard, I understood more the sound he meant as I'd seen both of those bands live previously. This was how I first met my best mate, Gav.
Within a few months, we were hanging out every day, and his friends became my friends, and what they were listening to became what I listened to, and their journey into hardcore became my journey into hardcore. What started out as Life Of Agony, Downset and Biohazard led to Sick Of It All, Madball and Agnostic Front, which then led to the Victory, Revelation and New Age Catalogues.
However, the deeper I got into hardcore, the less I saw Life Of Agony as a hardcore band and my interest in them waned. My interest decreased even further when they released later grungier albums like Ugly and Soul Searching Sun. I have listened to River Runs Red occasionally over the years and I haven't always heard the classic which I once loved and played to death. Sometimes it sounds dated. Sometimes it sounds like a great record which holds up well with other contemporary metal releases of the time (like 'Chaos AD ', 'Bloody Kisses' and 'Undertow').
There is no such conflict with Madball. 'Set It Off' is and always will be a seminal record. Whenever I am asked to recommend a hardcore record for newcomers to the genre, it is usually one of the first records I suggest. It think it is slightly more accessible than 'Age Of Quarrel', 'Victim In Pain' or 'Blood, Sweat And No Tears' because it has great production to go with the songs. I may not like all of their output since but they have always had my respect.
Openers, Tarah Who? sounded dreadful from the back of the room but I think that may be more because the sound doesn't seem to travel very well in this venue. It sounds much more powerful towards the front and their Distillers meets Kennedys style punk seems decent. The singer even has a slight Jello Biafra edge to her voice which is interesting. The final track is more grungey punk similar to Hole but it is much more formulaic. Overall, not too bad though.
There is a decent crowd by the time Madball take to the stage. Initially, it seems to be lacking something but I can't quite put my finger on what is. It just seems to lack punch or bite. I begin to worry that this could be a hardcore by numbers set but they then explore into 'Set It Off' with a real ferocity and those fears just evaporate. From hereon in, we get hit after hit played really powerfully. Although there are long pauses during 'Smell The Bacon (What's With You?)', when they actually motor through and play, it's an absolute blur. The 'Set It Off' material sounds great. 'Lockdown' and 'Get Out' both absolutely destroy. Freddy is on great form and he is still a formidable frontman. 'Infiltrate The System' has a wicked breakdown and it really gets the crowd moving. Madball may be unfamiliar to some of the audience tonight but they get a great reaction from the crowd. Hardly surprising though when they play such a great set of classic NYHC.
Life Of Agony are celebrating the 30th anniversary of 'River Runs Red' by playing the album in full. 'This Time' opens the set but things don't seem quite right. The sound is a bit muddy and drowns out Mina's vocals. The phrasing and timing of the vocals also seems a little strange and doesn't fit into the music all that well. 'Underground' is better but Mina seems to struggle to keep up with the band and they seem to play songs slightly slower throughout as a result. I also wonder at various points if Mina is singing along to a track. 'River Runs Red' and 'Through And Through' are great and vocals seem better at this point. 'Bad Seed's groove still moves but something still doesn't seem quite right. I seem to be in a minority with these gripes though as the crowd respond enthusiastically to each number. The vocals in the middle of 'Bad Seed' are impassioned and earnest and sound great. 'Method Of Groove' has Joey and Alan singing the vocals on the verse and it is great, both rhythmic and powerful.
The band seem to click into gear later on in the set on the post-'River Runs Red' material. They sound much more together. However, this material varies in quality. Some of it has decent 'Evil Empire' era RATM grooves whilst some is awful sub-Bush grunge. Passable but I wanted it to be soooo much better.
Life Of Agony ***
Madball ****
Tarah Who? ***
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