Album Review - Pain! - Waking The Dead

US dark punk rockers Pain! Have had a remarkable 2013. Besides multiple festival appearances, they have appearances with the likes of Saliva, and an opening slot for Black Veil Brides still to come.

For the Pain! Uneducated amongst us, the guys take a fusion of metal, horror punk, rock, and rockabilly, blast it out as loud as your ears can take it. They are well known in the States for high octane live performances, and are signed in the UK to horror/goth indie label Arkham Records (formerly Freaky Pug Records).

Their latest release, Waking The Dead, is a great introduction for UK fans who haven't heard any of their previous material. What you get is 11 tracks that combine rockabilly beats and instrumentals, powerful rock/metal vocals, and lyrics with a horror feel to them, with themes such as Dr Frankenstein in the album opener, through to werewolves, vampires, and other spooky offerings. 

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The thing I love most about Pain and the music, is the fact that they've swayed me to a genre of music I'd neither listened to or really had any inclination to listen to. That being said, all 11 tracks are great, fun (if that's the way to describe songs about death, burial, horror, etc) songs, that keep a merry old pace going, with no real let up in up tempo metal horror punkiness. From the opener Dr Frankenstein, with it breakneck drums, metal guitars with some pretty decent solo's thrown in. Then there's frontman, Timmy Pain's, vocals. which considering the tempo and feel to the song have a tone that although not how you would expect a metal song to sound, make no mistake, his vocals, tone and range are nothing short of phenomenal! Throughout the album, there's a mix of metal growls, more traditional rockers voice, and then there's the, almost crooner-esque vocals evident in Dr Frankenstein, Full Moon Fever, and others. Speaking of Full Moon Fever, track 3 on the album, I have to say, that it's probably my favourite track on the album, along with True Love Never Dies. That's not to say there's inferior tracks, far from it in fact, each track is worthy of release as a single. There's even a great homage to the Stephen King film, The Shining. 'Ain't no fillers on an album that's killer!!'. Whether you're a fan of metal, punk, or rock, I dare you to listen to this album and not enjoy every second of it. Now all I need is to experience their live shows! So guys, if you read this, get over to the UK!! There's a killer line up waiting for you!

 

PAIN! are:-

Timmy Pain - Vocals
Baron Von Pain -Bass
Nekro Pain - Drums
Reverend Pain - Guitar
Drako Pain - Guitar

 

Full track list for Waking The Dead:-

1 Dr Frankenstein

2 Don't Walk On My Grave

3 Full Moon Fever

4 Dancing With The Devil

5 Redrum

6 True Love Never Dies

7 You Suck

8 Horror Queen

9 Burn It Down

10 Bury Me Cold

11 Hell Of A Good Time