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PAIN “I Am”
PAIN “I Am”
By Iron Sheik
A gut punch if there ever was one! “I Am” is Swedish act PAIN's first release in eight years, and it has been well worth the wait. By now everyone knows PAIN is Peter Tagtgren's side project from his main band HYPOCRISY At times “I AM” sounds like something straight off of a MARILYN MANSON, NIN, or TKK album, but it’s still different enough to be its own animal...an industrial animal. At times pop industrial techno metal. At other times goth tinged metal. “I Am” is very keyboard heavy and is not anything new to the industrial world of music in that you never know where any of these types of bands will end up on both fronts of music and lyrics. “I Am” hits a homerun on both.
PAIN fuses the different styles effectively, and they sound somewhat in the vein of the aforementioned bands including at times like WEDNESDAY 13 or even RAMMSTEIN. If you are like me and are a fan of any of those bands then “I Am” will appeal to you. Now to dissect and inspect the blows.
Coming out swinging to kick off the front part of the album and asking "who is watching you? Who is watching me?" we have opening track, “I Just Dropped By (To Say Goodbye)”. Quite an aggressive number. “Don't Wake The Dead” tell us "all the nightmare comes alive right through your dreams." “Go With The Flow” informs us "I've been living in the past where we don't exist." It is one of a couple of tracks that are danceable and doesnt detract from the overall album. Next is “Not For Sale” which is one of my favorites. "I cannot be bought." It's intro music creates a fleeting NEW ORDER image. Cool!
Making up the first of a one two punch in the middle of the album, “Party In My Head” is a mental tour de force of being "locked up...shut down." This is another favorite as it has a vibe to it that almost makes you want to get up and dance? Or is that mosh? Second punch is “I Am”... "the one that takes your breath away." A cool introspective piece of self-reflection. "The Venom in Your Veins" gives chills at its mere mention. It has an atmospheric sound that makes you want to put all black on and mourn something, anything, maybe our past selves? A rather strong image to conjure up.
Getting serious and hitting furiously, “Push The Pusher” begins the back half of the album. "Don't push me I don't want to grow up." “The New Norm” implores us "you better get prepared...trust no one...love no one." A call to arms about a change here to stay. Revolution happens and "our retribution starts." It’s an example of how crazy society has become stating "you better wake up." “My Angel” is pure longing and obsessing a love lost who "slept with the devil. He stole her wings." Sadness rules here. “Fair Game” starts off sounding like a goth ballad, and ends up closing an excellent piece of industrial techno metal. "No surrender to these haunting lies." This ends our trek through one's mind and the introspective piercings of fragments of being.
“I Am” is a great album of introspection. Many of the songs are offer up deep lyrics and intense music. One thing I noticed is how this album closes with a ballad. Is this a 2024 thing? So many lately have closed their albums like this too. Anyway, it is a great closer. PAIN has dealt a gut punch of an album with this latest release. At first I thought “I Am” would be just another Swedish techno industrial metal dial by numbers, but further listens have proven me wrong. It is a very inward looking album that is kickass heavy and atmospheric. ("Dear old PAIN, you need your PAIN" - I couldn't help myself as it fits. I had to reference Alice Cooper '80). I Am PAIN!
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