WARNING! Extremely catchy music ahead! I’m infected, you might be too in a near future.
When it was announced a few weeks ago that Peter Tägtgren and Pain would guest the Aalborg Metal Festival in November, I was kind of going ‘hm, had hoped for something better’ and was really relieved when Annihilator and Life Of Agony were also added to the bill. You see, I’ve never really looked into what Pain was. I’ve seen and heard Hypocrisy, wasn’t really taken aback, and simply assumed that Pain would be something like it. Here, eight albums into the existence of Tägtgren’s other passtime band, I find out how wrong I’ve been.
This is bloody brilliant.
A good handful of the songs from ‘Coming Home’ have been buzzing in my head the past three weeks, slowly creeping further and further into my brain. I’ve returned to the mp3 folder on my work laptop several days in a row, simply because these songs are excellent and terribly catchy.
My first thought, mind you, when I hit the play button the first time and Designed To Piss You Off started off with a western style riff of sorts, was along the lines of ‘oh, no, this is going to be cheesy’. But far from it. It was just a trick to get attention from Tägtgren’s side. The industrial metal with lots of melody immediately kicks in, and from there on there’s no looking back. The death metal veteran simply excels in writing and performing songs that balance on the fine edge of pop/industrial and metal with lots of melody, heavy guitars and orchestration. If you need convincing, try Black Knight Satellite. That’s probably THE most catchy song of the album, and the chorus just won’t leave your brain once it’s nestled in there!
I’ve got some catching up to do, and then I’m ready for Pain in Aalborg in November! Huhuh!
Tracklisting:
1. Designed To Piss You Off
2. Call Me
3. A Wannabe
4. Pain In The Ass
5. Black Knight Satellite
6. Coming Home
7. Absinthe Phoenix Rising
8. Final Crusade
9. Natural Born Idiot
10. Starseed
Playing time: 41 minutes
Release date: 9th of September, 2016
Label: Nuclear Blast
Website: www.painworldwide.com
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