Life of Agony
American metal band

Life of Agony is an American alternative metal band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 1989 by singer Keith Caputo, bassist Alan Robert and guitarist Joey Z. The band has released six studio albums to date, most notably their 1993 debut River Runs Red, named by Rolling Stone as one of the Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.
The band was formed in 1989 by Joey Zampella, his cousin Keith Caputo and Alan Robert, the group has gone through multiple drummers but these 3 have remained stables of the band. The bands first recorded River Runs Red was released in 1993 and was followed by Ugly in 1995, and Soul Searching Sun in 1997. However in 2002 the band broke up due to Caputo stepping award from the band, Whitfield Crane briefly filled in on tours however Robert and Zampella decided the band couldn't continue without Caputo. In 2003 the original lineup reunited for two sold-out shows in New York and eventually released 2005's Broken Valley. Caputo came out as transgender in 2011 and transitioned to female then known as Mina, the band then shortly broke up again soon thereafter in 2012. However following a 2 year hiatus they reunited in 2014 and released A Place Where There's No More Pain, their first studio album in 12 years, on April 28, 2017. In 2018 their longest tenured drummer Sal Abruscato left the group for good and was replaced by Veronica Bellino. Their most recent album The Sound of Scars was released in 2019. In late 2024 Caputo started detransitioning and has started going by Keith again.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Life of Agony” is american metal band. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Life, Agony and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american metal band” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1544790. VIAF identifies the subject as 151490297. The Library of Congress control number is n2003082804. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1989, 1993, 1995 and 1997.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Life of Agony”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Life of Agony primary sources, Life of Agony archive and Life research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Life of Agony”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Life of Agony” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.