_ _______ _ ...:... _ _______ _ ___ / .:::::::::::. \ ___ | / .. (:::::::::::::) .. \ | | . .:::::.`:::::::::::'.:::::. . | | .::.. `:::.::':::`::.:::' ..::. | _ _______ | .::' ::::':::::`:::: `::. | _______ _ \\ | | :: `' ::':`:: `' :: | | // \ | | `:. .::' . `::. .:' | | / . | | .::::::..::::' ... `::::..::::::. | | . | | `:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::' | | .... | | `:' `::::: :: :: :::::' `:' | | .... | ' | : `. ': :: :: :: :: :` .' : | ` | |.....: . .......: :: :: :: :: : ...... . : ....| . ...................: : :: :: :: :: : : ................. . _____________:_____________ _____________:_____________ _ ___\` __ /_\` _______/_\` __ _/_\` /___ _ // __ / (/ ___/ (/ _ (/ /_______/\ _ _ /_________ ___________ ______/\ _ ______________/\__/_ _ \\\\\_________\__/\_________\__/\_____/\_____/\____________/ /// - -\-\-----------\__/----------\__/-------\_____/---------------/-/- - - -------------------: : :. ..:: :: . :------------------ - : : :......: :: :` ': :: : .....: : : ___ _ | | : ` ' : | | _ ___ _\---------- : | -------- : B E R C : -------- | : ----------/_ /_\ . : . ..:.. ..:.. . : . /_\ /// . . : : . . \\\ /: :\ /:: Artist :: Lorna Shore ::\ :: Album :: Pain Remains :: :: Year :: 2022 :: :: __ _ _ __ :: -:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:- :: \ / :: :: . Genre :: Metal Source :: CD . :: :: Label :: Metal Army R.date :: 2024-12-18 :: _::__ Cat.nr. :: ARMY 095-CD S.date :: 2022-10-14 __::_ ::// \\:: ::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\:: :: :: /: Encoder :: LAME 3.100 -V0 :\ ..: Bitrate :: avg. 271kbps :.. . Quality :: 44.1 kHz/Joint Stereo . . Size :: 124.33MB . . . __ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __ .\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////. +/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+ /: . : : . :\ /:: ::\ :: 1. Welcome Back, O' Sleeping Dreamer 7:21 :: :: 2. Into the Earth 5:12 :: :: 3. Sun//Eater 6:10 :: :: 4. Cursed to Die 4:40 :: :: 5. Soulless Existence 7:12 :: :: 6. Apotheosis 4:54 :: :: 7. Wrath 4:57 :: :: 8. Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames 5:52 :: :: 9. Pain Remains II: After All I've Done, I'll 5:36 :: :: Disappear :: :: 10. Pain Remains III: In a Sea of Fire 9:12 :: :: :: :: :: :: ------- :: .. >> 61:06 .. __ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __ .\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////. +/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+ /: . : : . :\ /:: ::\ :: :: :: I have heard many interesting reviews so far about this, and :: :: I'm positive that this is overrated and overhated at the same :: :: time. I've seen here reviews in percentages like 25% or 40%, :: :: but don't get me wrong, those people are saying 100% truth :: :: about this "black and white" (of course I mean color). There :: :: are many people who can't accept it because they can't handle :: :: the truth or are in delusion. Nevermind, let's get ready for my :: :: review! :: :: :: :: We are here for my review, and after you patiently read this :: :: one, you'll have mixed expectations for this album. So first :: :: off, is "Pain Remains" actually that good? Yes, I even dare to :: :: say it's great, but nowhere near being awesome or being a :: :: masterpiece. The album is heavy and full of "real" emotions; :: :: it's really influenced by melodic death metal as well. It's :: :: really open-world-like; I can imagine feeling like I'm in some :: :: type of cold forest full of depressive and scary things. The :: :: thing has nice-written riffs that perfectly manage to sound :: :: stunning. They are meant to give you chills, but they are not :: :: fulfilled as you would want in every song. And that's because :: :: they are very repetitive; it's not like Cattle Decap, where you :: :: hear in one minute five riffs; it's just the same one in every :: :: song. "Pain Remains" is a lot more melodic but less heavy and :: :: has more brutal breakdowns than "...And I Return Nothingness" :: :: or the old but awesome "Immortal". That's why I think that the :: :: new LS is different. But every song at least tries to have a :: :: nice construction; for example, with the melodic riffs, we're :: :: hearing some nice symphony behind all of it, which I really :: :: like. You can clearly see that they were pretty much influenced :: :: by the symphonic black metal gods "Dimmu Borgir". But the :: :: symphony quality is nowhere near Dimmu Borgir's quality, but :: :: that's of course common sense. The best symphony quality is in :: :: the "Pain Remains Trilogy" song, where I must praise them for :: :: being diligent and patient to make it sound good. :: :: :: :: Second question, please! Is the songwriting, the whole :: :: construction, and the creativity of the album at a good level? :: :: Ehh, not really. You know that there is a drummer named Austin :: :: Archey; he's an awesome drummer for blastbeats, but that's all, :: :: I think. The drums are mostly just based on "how long can I :: :: handle blastbeats and cringe-sounding double bass kicks without :: :: going to the hospital?" I can't feel here any emotions, because :: :: I think that drums talk emotions the same way vocals do, honor :: :: to Dave McGraw from CD. But the drumming of Mr. Archey feels :: :: "unnatural and unclean!" They feel as if the drummer was some :: :: robot; at least make the programming process better, like it :: :: was real, like Mortician did, because that is a lot better :: :: drumming. But the thing that I hate most is that the snare drum :: :: has a really abnoxious sound that feels like *twank*. (Anyways, :: :: I like the drummer; he's an awesome dude who doesn't have any :: :: problem with blastbeats.) Besides that, I would love to hear :: :: more mid-tempo drumming than just blastbeats and *twank* :: :: sounds. Songs that are more creative or have more mid-tempo :: :: drumming are "Pain Remains Trilogy", "Wrath", and "Soulless :: :: Existence". :: :: :: :: All people are saying that Will Ramos is the best vocalist on :: :: Earth. Is it true? Well, that would leave me here for like a :: :: few hours, but let's just cut it in half. The vocals of our :: :: beloved Will Ramos are amazing, and that's like the best thing :: :: on the whole album. He has awesome "guttural-like" growls, then :: :: some "high" pitched vocals, but the only problem is that he :: :: isn't the best vocalist; for me, it's easily Travis Ryan from :: :: CD. He doesn't have that much of a vocal range because he :: :: sounds almost the same on every song. You know, I would like to :: :: hear more melodic and "goblin" vocals, but if he can do them, :: :: then I would be really happy to hear them in the near future. :: :: :: :: Yeah, we are at the finest end of this review, so what can we :: :: expect from "Pain Remains"? Dear reader, expect awesome vocals :: :: by Will Ramos that have nice guttural growls and high-pitched :: :: screams, because that will be the best thing in the end. I :: :: definitely recommend the most underrated song "Trilogy" without :: :: any video clip, and those songs are "Soulless Existence," :: :: "Apotheosis", and "Wrath" because their construction level is :: :: higher than the most popular songs. Then, expect fast-ass :: :: drumming by talented Austin Archey, who will most likely become :: :: your favorite drummer of all time. Do expect nice and big :: :: guitar melodies and a nice symphony they tried to put behind :: :: all of the construction of the songs. "Pain Remains" is an :: :: album that will be forever remembered as the most "overrated :: :: and overhated album of modern metal"... :: :: :: :: . _ _ . :: \: :. \\ ___________ . ___________ // .: :/ __\____ :: ____ ___\ _ / BERC : 2024 \ _ /___ ____ :: ____/__ \\\f3! :: \\\ __ _/_________i_________\ /___/ /// :: cRO/// \ :: :\-\___________\_ ___ / _ _/___________/-/: :: / :: | . . _ _ _/ __/ . \_ _ _ . . | :: : :::::::: | | \\\\\/ _______\____|\ \///// | | :::::::: : :: | | -\-\/____/-------------\____\/-/- | | :: :: | | \ :|: / | | :: : : | . ` ::: ' . | : : . . | : ::: : | . . | :::....:::....::: | : ::::::::::::::::: : . :::''``:::''``::: . : ::: : . ::: . .:. :