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Thought about makin album reviews for funsies, so here we are! gonna put more effort into my spelling/grammar but im lil dyslexic (o_O) this is more of a thought dump than a full on essay tbh but idk (ﾒ﹏ﾒ)

This ended up being a lot longer than I expect so buckle up kiddos!

ps, this is MY opinion, you are free to disagree with it, and im more than happy to listen to any apposing viewpoint, as long as you are being respectful towards me and others.

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Genre(s): Symphonic deathcore, blackened deathcore, extreme metal

Vocals/lyricist: Will Ramos
Lead Guitar/lyricist: Adam DeMicco
Rhythm Guitar: Andrew O'Connor
Bass: Michael "Moke" Yager
Drums: Austin Archey

Track #s: 10
Length: 61 minutes
Overall Rating: 9/10

Favorite Tracks: Into The Earth, Cursed To Die, Soulless Existence, Wrath, Pain Remains lll
Would I recommend it?: Absolutely! but I understand that this album is definitely not for everyone. If you don't like deathcore, than chances are you won't like Pain remains. I would give it a chance, though.

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★ Welcome Back, O' Sleeping Dreamer

6/10

A great opener to the album. This track has everything you should be expecting from Lorna: angst, melodic instrumentals, melancholic lyrics, and of course, intense breakdowns. In an interview, Will called this track the “ass-beater of the album” and I’d have to agree with him.

Overall, a great song, and like I said, a great way to kick things off.

A perfect opening to the album, It gives you all you should be expecting from this project; melancholic lyrics, angst, brutality, and melodic instrumentals. though, Welcome Back is not as melodic as the other tracks, and focuses more on being face-melting, it is still a wonderful introduction to what you're getting yourself into. Will, in an interview called this track the "Ass-beater of the album" and I would have to agree with him. 
Overall a wonderful song, and like I said, a perfect opener.

★ Into The Earth

7.8/10

Yet another Brutal Over Melodic track. Into The Earth is one of the more fast-paced songs of the album, and the first single. This song is intense. It feels like I'm trapped in the abyss desperately trying to find any way to escape as I slowly loose my mind, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

 Will knocked it out of the park in this. He's practically doing the vocal equivalent of acrobatics, which is insane to witness. Though, I'm not going to really drag on about Will's vocals, because I'm pretty sure everyone in the metal scene knows by now how nutty his voice is. I will say that I see a lot of inspiration from Dickie Allen of Infant Annihilator/ScumFuck in this track, especially the "high-pitched goblin noises" in the final breakdown (which Dickie does a lot in his projects). I'm aware that Will has openly stated he takes inspiration from Allen, but I just think it's more prevalent in this track. That being said, as a fan of both IA and SF, I really enjoyed Into The Earth.

★ Sun//Eater

7.5/10

The second single. Sun//Eater is a perfect mix of brutal and melodic. This was the first song I heard off this album, and as I was listening, I thought "Okay this is nuts, I gotta hear more" and hear I am, writing a review for Pain Remains this very second.
This track perfectly combines all that Lorna has to offer in this album, better than Welcome Back does. I'd also like to highlight Austin's drumming. Any drum work he's done is sure to rip your face off. His speed and accuracy is insane, and being able to do such technical and fast footwork feels inhuman. I'd go watch his play through on YouTube of this song and Cursed To Die. I swear, he makes the shit he does look easy. But overall, a very well put-together song.

Speaking of Cursed To Die, let's talk about it.

★ Cursed To Die

8.8/10

Now we get into the more "Melodic Over Heavy" songs of Pain Remains, and the third single. This is the shortest track of this project, which is a shame, because this song is incredible. Cursed To Die, much like Sun//Eater, is a perfect combination of melodic and heavy, but I believe that this track does it better than Sun//Eater. I also really liked the lyrics to Cursed To Die. Yes, they are very simple compared to the other tracks, but there's just something about the delivery and pronunciation of the lines that make it stand out to me. The melody is oddly calming, despite this track still being on the heavy side.
All-round a nice pallet-cleanser after listening to some intense shit. I really really liked this track.

★ Soulless Existence

9/10

My personal favorite song in Pain Remains. Soulless Existence is the most melodic and (at least to me) most calming track out of the others. It's absolutely beautiful, ethereal even. The melancholic lyrics mixed with the equally melancholic instrumentals is masterly crafted. 

I want to highlight Adam's writing and guitar skills. KnotFest wrote an interview with him about the backgrounds behind the songs in this album, and he stated that he was going through a lot during production. You can tell in this track and in the Pain Trilogy, which I'll get into soon. Adam's guitar skills are phenomenal, especially in Soulless Existence. The solo in this song is just a chef's kiss. It pared with Austin's drumming makes it, what I would call, an eargasm.

 I have to admit, this song hit close to home for me. I (as much as I would not like to admit it) resonated with the lyrics a lot. It's something I listen to when I'm going through an episode, and it calms me down like magic. Which is why I give it such a high rating. I also think that was Adam's goal when writing the lyrics; to reach to people who may be suffering and give them something that can help them deal with those negative emotions. An absolute masterpiece of song that I can barely put into words, I would recommended to anyone.

★ Apotheosis

6.5/10

Now we jump back into the heavy stuff. The melody of Apotheosis was pretty alright, but I kind of felt like this song was weak next to all the other tracks. Though, I did like the breakdowns and short solo. 

There's not much I have to say for this track, other than it's was pretty good, So let's move onto Wrath.

★ Wrath

8/10

Definitely the most intense and brutal song on this project. brutal honestly feels like an understatement, because song is fuckin gnarly. That's why I love it. The guitar melody is this track is beautiful, despite Wrath being a very heavy track. It's a pretty empowering song, too.

Also, the pig squeals in the first breakdown through me off for a second, but in a good way. Will made some pretty disgusting gutterals in this track, which was a perfect add-on. I consider Wrath to be an underrated track in Pain Remains, sense I don't see many people talk about it, But think we should talk about it more, because I loved this track.

Not to mention the few seconds of silence was a perfect transition into the Pain Trilogy.

★ Pain Remains l: Dancing Like Flames

8.7/10

Buckle up and bring the tissues, Fellas, it's time to cry! these next three songs are all masterpieces. A deathcore ballad isn't something I (and probably others) weren't expecting to get, but it's what we got, and man am I glad we did. Dancing Like Flames is, for me at least, the most emotional of the trilogy. You can hear the sorrow and pain in Will's voice as he practically screams his soul out. I can barely re-visit this song without feeling completely empty or feeling sad.

Dancing Like Flames is an incredibly emotional track, and perfect way to introduce the trilogy. 

★ Pain Remains ll: After All I've Done, I'll Disappear

7/10

I personally felt like this was the weakest song out of the trilogy, but I still really really like the song. It was emotionally painful like Dancing Like Flames, but it was a bit more aggressive. It was a good transition into Sea of Fire.

Like apotheosis, I don’t have much to say about this track, so let's get into the (earth) finale.

★ Pain Remains lll: In a Sea of Fire

9/10

And now we get to the finale. Sea Of Fire is an almost 10 minute rollercoaster, making it the longest song off of Pain Remains. 

This track did a number on me (In a positive way). When the final lyrics "Dancing like flames after all I've done, I'll salt the earth and disappear in a sea of fire" were said, I just started fuckin bawling. As the track faded to fire cracking (which is a wonderful add-on, might I add), I just sat there, thinking about what I just spent the past hour listening to. There hasn't been many times I have cried to an album, but Pain Remains was one of them. I adore albums that have that effect on me. Sea of Fire, I’ll disappear, and Dancing Like Flames were the perfect way to end off Pain Remains.

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And that's it! hope you enjoyed my silly rambles╰(✯3✯)つ──☆*:・ﾟ

Let me know what u guys think of Pain Remains, and if u wanna see more album reviews cuz these are genuinely really fun to write!

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