Documentary Review: 'The Sound of Scars' Charts the Emotional Career of Life of Agony

The Sound of Scars is an incredibly emotional documentary. The story behind the band, Life of Agony, The Sound of Scars details the trauma, the heartache, the tragedy and the triumph that created this legendary heavy metal band. I’d never heard of Life of Agony before this documentary, it’s not my kind of music, but after seeing The Sound of Scars, you can count me in as a fan.

Life of Agony began in a family basement in a New York City burb in the late 1980s, early 1990s. Cousins Mina, formerly Keith, Caputo and Joey Zampella discovered a mutual love of the band Biohazard and the hardcore metal scene. Sneaking into shows, they lived for mosh pits where they could explore and exert the anger and pain of their home life. For Mina, home was a place of constant agony at the hands of her abusive grandfather. For Tony, it was a father in the grip of alcoholism, and for both it was so much more than that.

Living across the way was Alan Robert, a supremely talented bassist who appeared to have an innate ability to take the collective trauma of Mina and Joey and give it life in lyrics. Together, they formed Life of Agony, a band who was unlike any other hardcore metal band of their time. With Alan’s songwriting and Mina’s incredible knack for making those lyrics her own, Life of Agony had a heartfelt anguish to their heavy metal, a pain and sweat soaked aesthetic that set them apart from other hardcore mosh pit bands.

All along, Mina was struggling. At the time, Mina was Keith and was struggling with coming to terms with her identity. The documentary does a lovely job of letting Mina step forward and tell her story while her bandmates talk in loving and supportive ways about where they were along that road. Watching Joey and Alan and their wives and family speak of Mina, not as Keith, but as Mina, as who she truly is so beautiful. I wish all trans people could be met with the loving support of extended families like these.

That’s not to say that Mina has had it easy in any way. In the often overtly, painfully masculine world of hardcore metal, there were many obstacles and a lot of hatred. One anecdote in particular, about how Alan found out about Mina’s coming out and plans to transition, right before a concert and via secondhand information, carries the question of a promoter asking Alan if this would be Life of Agony’s last show now that Mina had publicly come out.

There is so much emotion, so much overwhelming catharsis and passion in the work of Life of Agony that even as their music is not for me, I could not help but get caught up in it. These are artists who pour every inch of themselves into their music, the pain, heartache, frustration, and now their love and commitment to each other. It’s a life story permeated by pain and agony but also a life that is true and is now teeming with love and support.

The Sound of Scars was directed by Leigh Brooks and it captures a beautiful story of healing through art and found family. It’s a wonderful portrait of how even in the gravest darkness, there is coping through friendship and catharsis through art and, eventually, light at the end of the tunnel. The members of Life of Agony went through remarkable things together and have come out the other side stronger and with a deeper bond than ever and the story of how they got there makes for an exceptional documentary.

The Sound of Scars is available via streaming rental services as of March 29th, 2022.