LIFE OF AGONY Parts Ways With Drummer SAL ABRUSCATO

Drummer Sal Abruscato has "amicably" left LIFE OF AGONY, the band he was in, on and off, for the past two and a half decades.

Abruscato seemingly alluded to his exit from LIFE OF AGONY in a December 19 post on his personal Facebook page. He wrote: "Sometimes you just have to let go and say goodbye to old friends, the past and its ghosts. Move forward, grow up, grab that life preserver and jump off the ship. I have three beautiful daughters and a beautiful wife that love me and that's what is important."

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Sal started playing drums at age 10. He co-founded TYPE O NEGATIVE with Peter Steele and performed on the albums "Slow, Deep And Hard" (1991),"Origin Of The Feces" (1992),"Bloody Kisses" (1993) and various best-of compilations and soundtracks. As the drummer for LIFE OF AGONY, he played on "River Runs Red" (1993),"Ugly" (1995),"River Runs Again" (2003),"Broken Valley" (2005) and "A Place Where There's No More Pain" (2017). Additional projects include SUPERMASSIV and MY MORTALITY. He is also the singer, songwriter and guitarist for A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH.

In a 2010 interview with Metalgeek, Sal stated about his original departure from LIFE OF AGONY in 1996: "There were many tensions during the recordings of 'Ugly'. The producer was terrible. He wasn't really pushing the band, he wasn't really doing what he was paid for. There was also issues with the songwriting. There was pressure from the record company to make 'River Runs Red Part 2'. Had we maybe had a different producer, one that cared — like ['River Runs Red' producer] Josh [Silver] did — and pushed the band, maybe it would have been different, maybe not."

Sal added: "Everyone was a young buck but everybody was just kids. When you're older, you know how to handle situations. We were wild, so we would say shit. [Laughs] And then that would cause tensions."

According to Abruscato, it wasn't his choice to leave LIFE OF AGONY in 1996. "They just decided that there was issues with me and it ended with a falling out, basically," he said. "So I think it was mutual. A part of me was relieved, but at the same time, I was a little bit upset about how the thing was handled."

"A Place Where There's No More Pain" was issued in April via Napalm. LIFE OF AGONY's fifth studio LP marked the band's first release since singer Mina Caputo (formerly known as Keith Caputo) came out as transgender in 2011.

Photo credit: Tania Gomez