Dutch thrash outfit Project Pain hail from Amersfoort and already have a demo and debut release under their belts. After signing a deal with Dead Inside Records at the end of June, their second album “Thrashed To Kill” is set to be distributed on a much larger scale. With a guest appearance from Toxik guitarist Josh Christian, the thrash five piece certainly look to make a statement of intent with this album. Let’s see how deadly this dose of thrash is.
One thing which stands out about this album is the rhythm section. All through it there is a real heavy and strong sound. The riffs are cutting and have a great groove behind them, the bass is clear at times and has some real depth to it and the timekeeping from the drums is spot on. Whether it is a traditional breakneck pace thrash attack or a more powerful groove or a classic metal gallop, the band really have their sound nailed there. Sadly this isn’t the case for the vocals and lead guitar. Vocally, like most thrash it can be one dimensional. Tom Araya isn’t known for singing, he’s known for angrily shouting and back in the day, wailing like an air raid siren at times, but he managed to make it sound a little different and varied from track to track. In this instance, the majority of the vocal work on this album is bland. It lacks any real spark or kick to it, delivered in a more metalcore styled shout than a real angry thrash style. There are some moments where there is that spark of life, like in “Piss On Your Grave” and “Flatline Invasion” but for the majority, it’s not really remarkable.
The same happens with the lead guitar sound too. At times the harmony lines and fills are spot on, they have that real cutting edge you’d expect from a thrash track, but on other tracks, the tone is grating. What sounds like a fantastic, frantic thrash solo in composition is held back by a grating tone which can draw cringes if you’re not expecting it. The Album itself isn’t bad… Its jut not good either. It’s average at most. It starts off weak with a few good points and slowly improves as the album progresses, but by the end of it, you’re left wondering what if the earlier tracks would have had that spark to bring them to life. The band do mix the modern metalcore style with thrash well rhythmically, there are shades of Lamb of God mixed in with Slayer and Exodus there, but it’s just not thrash enough to really kill, more cause some injury at best.
(6/10 Fraggle)
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