To start off with, this album combines everything a classic metal fan desires. Fast riffs, melodies, dramatic solos and jackhammer-drums. It’s remarkable that this work was realised by four very young musicians.
I know, it often annoys bands to be compared to others in those music reviews, but as Lost in Pain don’t hide the fact: you can find Metallica’s influences in many dark corners of this metal performance.
The good things about this should be apparent: classic metal in a fresh robe, all combined with fast drumming (Lars Ulrich could cut a slice) and even with a homage to James Hetfield himself by inserting the typical “-ah” suffix at the end of some words. The lead voice in general is very characterising for this band, floating somewhere between old Hetfield and Tim McIlrath. Yep, that was another comparison that had to be done.
You can choose whether you like or don’t like the drift to, let’s call it a “Load/ReLoad” stage of this album. Sometimes the punk parts rein this wild horse’s power, which leads to a little down toward the middle of the debut LP. All in all, it offers a wide range of hearing experiences, between pop choruses and thrash riffs, although personally I could go without some of the more popish sections. Until the End of Time would be a good example, merging from a ballad to a brutal speed part to an epic classic double solo.
The metalcore and punk parts are important on the one hand, because Lost in Pain don’t want to be just a cover band and they indeed never risk to drift into this. On the other hand, they also slow down the suggested pace from the first track Sick and Tired, which is a brilliant opener after the melodic intro.
Of course, Lost in Pain’s debut often sounds a bit raw due to the variety described above. What counts in the end is that there are four youngsters who play music that was popular like 10 years before they were born, but they do it enthusiastically and in a fresh-faced style.
Recommendations: Sick and Tired, Until the End of Time, Lost in Pain 2
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTlRmCo__Tw]