This Florida four-piece was an entirely unknown proposition to me until Waiting for the Flies was delivered to my house. They may hail from the state that brought us some classic old school death metal, but Pain Principle have plenty more in common with the modern melodic death of the recent times. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that, influences aside, they sound more like In Flames-inspired metalcore bands such as Darkest Hour or As I Lay Dying fronted by a young Phil Anselmo.
I'm not sure if the band themselves would agree and I am repeatedly banging my head against the keyboard for using the term metalcore, which has been more worn out than Lemmy's trousers, but it is apt. One can at least not deny that the above mentioned, groundbreaking Swedish band has had an integral part in the creation of this record's sound, in one way or another. The melodic core of Waiting for the Flies owes a lot to them but to their credit, Pain Principle do serve up some classic blast beats in order to increase the intensity.
It all seems to be in place. The production is crisp and clear, courtesy of Erik Rutan. And Waiting for the Flies does offer up speed, melody, and heaviness in abundance.
Unfortunately, this album is just not memorable enough. Songs like "All but the Dying" are very good to listen to and are decent enough metal creations, but after it's finished I just can't remember enough of the recording to justify a high rating. Nothing apart from a few selected riffs and melodies has truly stuck with me.
Reviewing albums of this kind can often be a truly frustrating experience because of the above-mentioned reasons. On a superficial level it can be said that they do everything that is asked of them and it cannot be denied that Pain Principle are competent musicians. They just need to work a bit harder on their songwriting and the potential that is there will be able to flourish. There certainly are plenty of groups plying their trade in this genre and earning accolades but is less worthy of it than these guys.
Until they manage to release an album that is less of a fleeting experience than Waiting for the Flies then I'm going to have to say that it's decent enough but I hope it gets a bit better next time. I bet they are pretty good live though.
