|
|
An enjoyably abrasive ride of Electronic tinged Death Metal.-
|
| WretchedPain: Congregation |
Industrial, Death Metal
Self-released
2010
- The Dawn of Ambition - 4:11
- Whorgasm - 3:05
- Emptiness - 3:21
- The Absence of Reason - 4:28
- Praise be to Allah - 2:55
- War Crimes - 3:22
- Death Comes - 5:51
- A Plague - 3:35
- A Burning Nation - 5:35
- Welcome Home (I'm Your God Now) - 10:01
|
| Links |
| Review Information |
Release length: 46:35
Review posted on October 22nd, 2011
- |
|
| | Overall Score: 7.5/10 |
 
|
|
|
| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Congregation (2010)
|
| Demo(s): |
Demo (2008)
|
|
| - |
| Review |
WretchedPain is a Death Metal act that hails from Ontario, Canada. Back in 2008, the band issued their debut demo, consisting of three songs that did earn the attention of fans to the style that know where to look around the internet, as well as built up a stronger local fanbase. But, here it in two years after, and the group is issuing their debut full-length recording themselves. Congreation offers up a collection of ten tracks of Death Metal ruthlessness for the listener, but does this group really have what it takes to deserve more attention then what they have already earned?
The audio quality here comes through pretty modern, having a cleaner, crisper sound to it, but far from sterile. The guitars seem muddy enough through the deeper distortion to give the audio a stronger bite, and the bass itself makes it's presence known through some louder, deeper chords that typically follow the guitars. The drums also sound pretty good here with a decent click to the bass kicks and some louder tight snares with cymbols that don't come through too dominant but are at the same volume as the aforementioned snares and still find themselves pivotol to the overall sound. Vocally, the performance isn't bad, having more of a rawer trait to it that's also a little louder then the rest of the instruments. This wouldn't be too bad, but it doesn't allow the music to mask the faults of the back of the throat sound being emitted, allowing the strain and gurgling in the style to seep through a little more then it should have, such as with "The Absence of Reason." There's some additional electronics adding to the mix here and there, and their presence often feels minor, though some songs, like the one just mentioned, does use this additional kick to the music better, allowing them to be at a pitch where they do come through pretty clear, but never seem to be as if it's a driving force of the release other then to aid along the sleeker modern atmosphere to the recording.
Congregation actually makes for an interesting album in the fact that it seems to blend so many different ideas with it. Right at the start with "The Dawn of Ambition," you are given a solid Death Metal foundation with some of the old-school groove many bands have built success upon, though the vocals can feel a bit too much and make even the most seasoned of Death Metal fans cringe. There's also some additional keyboard elements found to the music that feel more synth-driven to make the experience sound a little richer, though really come off a little more minor compared to what the band is playing. Couple those elements with a stern, high pitched vocal presence that comes off more like a back of the throat Thrashier or even Hardcore approach with a hint of guttural influence. In no way is all of this bad, but it does make for an intriguing concoction that may take a few songs to really sink into the listener, though honestly the additional synth bits could have been left out from this track and others and you'd still have the same kind of intense material, though some tracks do show what the additional input this aspect could bring to the table. But, with all that you then also have "Whorgasm" which moves at a faster pace with a good deal of blast beats, and even "Emptiness" that feels like a mixture of Stoner concepts against a trudging Doom Metal pace.
But, despite those early varying styles, WretchedPain does a good job at making many of these songs stand out, though later shows they have more of an influence to some Industrial tinged Death Metal with the performance of the song "The Absence of Reason" and many others that follow. The song still retains a good deal of in-your-face aggression, but also manages to include plenty of headbang worthy sections to the mix from the additional Industrial input. As stated, this makes a good argument to keep this aspect in the mix instead of it feeling like a pointless bit of enhancing material like it down on "The Dawn of Ambition" and "Whorgasm." Another example of how well the additional electronic sound can help the material along is the track "War Crimes." The song seems to show some early Fear Factory influence to the mix and really makes the additional layer to the music come off more then just background material to make the song richer. In fact, this is perhaps the strongest recording off the album next to "The Absence of Reason due to it, allowing the chorus to become catchy, but yet still hold that rougher intensity to it that other tracks have. But this start to become a problem because at this point the album feels like it's losing some of it's originality and going more towards a Fear Factory-styled band, though not to the point of worship, as well as substituting the signature vocal approach with a constant rhaspy style without range that includes clean singing or screaming, the latter of which would help at some moments instead of just pushing more heat onto the rhasps which allow them to sound painful and even make the listener flinch at times like with the aforementioned sectiosn fo "The Absence of Reason."
But all in all, Congregation is not a bad album, though it's nothing that fantastic either. There's still a good deal of solid material, even including "Emptiness" which embraces that Stoner Metal kind of atmosphere well in it's delusional sound that comes through pretty heavy and rather unrelenting for what it is. Of course on the opposite end of that spectrum, you have tracks like "Death Comes" and their furious pace with blast beats and just sheer aggression that really stick out well to capture the more furious side of Death Metal. The music itself is executed well and finds the electronics adding a little more to the track then they did with "Whorgasm," another one of the faster tracks worth noting but would end up better off without those Industrial elements involved. Of all the songs though, "A Plague" ends up being one of the weakest due to it's more generic sound mixed with what sounds like blast beats but still about the same speed, never really breaking that or the sound that the song started with, as if a march anthem that simply doesn't have what it takes to boost the moral of those marching.
The album ends on a bit of a higher note though. WretchedPain brings in the closing track "Welcome Home (I'm Your God Now)" to the mix, a just over ten minute track that is both atmospheric and full of intense old-school groovey Death Metal. The song also shows some range to the vocals that are very welcome despite the miniscule change. Instead of being the same energetic mid-tone rhaspy assault, this track includes a much deeper, more guttural performance that really just sounds much better and well suited to the track, though that high pitch approach is still there, but more like it just seeps in naturally with the song's progression. There is also a spoken word section that seems more like it's supposed to be an audio sample, but it works well during the longer bridge about half way through, and some Industrial electronics that don't really need to be here in order to reach the same impact.
Overall, Congregation is not the most amazing or jaw dropping album you'll find lurking in the shadows of the unsigned underworld, but it's still an enjoyable release. Though it does get off to a rocky start, WretchedPain do seem to get a general idea of what they want their material to sound like, and many tracks show the potential the group has if they continue to grow and expand on what they offer on this release. Really the only major complaint would be the Electronic elements sometimes barely doing anything for the music other then being there to exist in the sound, which becomes more of a cosmetic issue then anything else and could easily be rectified. However, the lack of range in the vocals, though not sounding completely monotone or even off-key in any way, and the one or two songs on here that may not grab the listener the way others should do highlight some of the faults. But, other then that, Congregation makes for a rough and abrasive release that's worth checking out from this promising Electronic fused Death Metal act.
|
|
|
