River Runs Red

River Runs Red is the debut studio album by American hardcore / alternative metal band Life of Agony, released on October 12, 1993 by Roadrunner Records. The album was produced & mixed by Josh Silver (producer/keyboardist) formerly of Type O Negative. "River Runs Red" is considered a concept album about suicide. The album features what Rolling Stone called, "bleak odes to misanthropy (“Underground”), parental neglect (“This Time”), regret (“Bad Seed”) and killing yourself (“River Runs Red"). Rolling Stine noted that the tracks are "sung passionately" in a "unique baritone" and to, "make it all more impactful" that the songs are set to "a pastiche of gloom metal and hardcore punk, and they interpolated hip-hop–style theatrical skits telling the story of a man driven to take his own life".

River Runs Red
Studio album by Life of Agony
Released	October 12, 1993
Recorded	System Two, Brooklyn, NY
Genre	Alternative metal, groove metal
Length	50:32
Label	Roadrunner
Producer	Josh Silver
Life of Agony chronology
River Runs Red (1993) Ugly (1995)
Singles from River Runs Red
"Through and Through" Released: 1994[1] "This Time" Released: 1994[2]

in 1994, Roadrunner Records issued a limited 3-fold digipak version of "River Runs Red" which featured four bonus live tracks. These live and very raw tracks were taken from a now legendary performance by the band at The Sone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey on February 25, 1994. Three of the four bonus tracks were live versions of songs featured on "River Runs Red". However, the studio version of "Plexi Intro" cannot be found on "River Runs Red". The original version, entitled "Plexiglass Gate" was recorded during pre-production writing sessions for the "River Runs Red" album in August 1992 but was released in 1993 on the"East Coast Assault" compilation album released by Too Damn Hype Records. This helped introduce the band to a wider audience prior to the release of "River Runs Red". To this day, Life Of Agony occasionally begin their sets with the instrumental introduction to "Plexiglass Gate".

On April 29, 2008 as part of their "Expanded Edition" series, Roadrunner Records issued a CD/DVD set entitled, "River Runs Red - The Top Shelf Edition". This quad-fold, slipcase,, digipak featured a CD disc containing the original album remastered for the first time since its original release over 15 years earlier. While George Marino mastered the original release at Sterling Sound, NYC in 1993, Ted Jensen remastered "River Runs Red" at Sterling Sound, NYC in June 2006. The CD also included four previously released bonus tracks, the last of which being the aforementioned "Plexiglass Gate". Additionally the set included a DVD disc featuring both music videos Life Of Agony released from live"River Runs Red" album - "Through And Through" & "This Time" as well as two classic live performances from the Dynamo Open Air Festival '95. The package also included extended liner notes featuring an all new interview on the making of the album with all four members of the band - Mina Caputo (known as Keith Caputo at the time), Joey Z (Joey Zampella), Alan Robert, & Sal Abruscato as well as producer Josh Silver.

"River Runs Red - The Top Shelf Edition" remains the only CD release to feature the original album in remastered form.

On October 7, 2009, it was announced that for the first time ever the band would perform the album in its entirety at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey on Saturday, November 28, 2009. This would become the first date of a US tour followed by a European tour in which the band would perform the album from beginning to end at every show. Their performance at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Belgium on April 3, 2010 was filmed and recorded for a CD/DVD package entitled, "20 Years Strong - River Runs Red: Live In Brussels", which was published later that same year.

In 2017, Rolling Stone Magazine named ""River Runs Red" #58 on their list of the Top 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.

October 12, 2019, exactly 26 years after the release of "River Runs Red", Life Of Agony released "The Sound Of Scars" which received an extremely positive response with many critics hailing it as a 'return to form" for the band. This was the band's second concept album and a sequel to "River Runs Red". From the first track on "The Sound Of Scars", the listener discovers that the main character in "River Runs Red" was unsuccessful in his suicide attempt on "Friday" and is now 26 years older and attempting to deal with the "scars" of his past.