life of agony released one of my all time favourite records. "river runs red" was once handed over to me on a dubbed cassette by my oncle and ever since i loved this fifty minutes of recorded music. despite the fact that this album has a special place im my heart, i never spent much time with their other outputs. i listened to a few bits of "ugly" and knew the song "weeds" because a friend of mine loves it but that's that.
since 2014 the band is touring again after they resigned from their second resignation in 2012 and a new album is set to be released this year. now music on vinyl thought it might be a good idea to re-issue some of their older titles. well, that comes in just handy. at first they re-released the band's "unplugged at the lowlands festival '97" album on several vinyl colours for this years rsd. i wasn't interested because it's a live album plus, and that is even worse, no electronical distorted guitars.
when "soul searching sun" from 1997 was announced, i was way more interested. i skipped the pre-listening on the tube and the like and when the time came i ordered at per koro right away. after i gave it some spins i pretty much got what i was expecting. the record is solid but doesn't gets me as excited as "river runs red" does. they dropped a lot of their hardcore elements in favour for a more alternative orientated sound. this new recipe works on one half of the album very damn well.
songs like "gently sentimental", "led astray" or the superb "neg" are very strong. then there is another half which is just average alternative rock and a bit boring. still i think i'll grab this for an occassional listen here and there. the presentation is the shit though. nice matte cardboard sleeve, a fold-out insert and hot 180gr orange marble vinyl. very nicely done! #1334 of 1500 copies pressed. music on vinyl. 2016.
