Band : P.A.I.N. Management
Album title : Lobotomy
Label : STF Records
Distributor : /
Release date : June 2009
Release : CD

This Schwelm (Nordrhein Westfalen area in Germany) based act, which has the balls to call their music “Unique Metal”, was formed…I guess in early 2007…by already experienced musicians Markus (singer, also in Macbeth and Blackguard), Andreas (synth & samples, also in Even Horizon and Die Mitglieder), and Christian (drums, affiliaated to Clowns Of Mystery, Little Dragon, Even Horizon, and Die Mitglieder), and completed wiith the addition of guitarist Patrick (Erradicate, Geboltze, Purity) and bassist Andre (Deafness, Resurrection). During 2007 and 2008, they played a shitload of gigs in the Nordrhein Westfalen area, leading to the sales of hundreds of copies of their demo CDs Save The Day and Save The EP 2008.

After several delays, the band finally ventured back into a studio to record the 11 tracks (one short instrumental) on their official debut album (and although the band did use a couple of their previously recorded tracks, they swear high and low that these new versions have grown considerably from the original ones). In their own words, P.A.I.N. Management feels that in life there can be no extatic moments without the lows to balance, no joy without pain, no love without disputes, and therefore describes its music as “…hard, varied, and implicitely Progressive “Unique Metal”…”, and “…Thus meets atmospheric keyboards to brute guitar walls, plausibility on requirement and melody on aggression, while everything of a foundation from bass and drums is welded together, into which the vocals perfectly embed themselves…”!

Well, as for the band’s “unique”-ness…let’s be serious! There’s been tons of bands melding atmospheric keyboards (even with occasional synth or piano incursions, as is the case here) into Metal, certainly into Progressive Metal! So thís band chose to have their guitarist come through somewhat…in German they say “brachiaal”, which can be roughly translated as “heavily crunchy”, I suppose, and there is a Thrash element to his sharp heaviness! Both guitar and keyboards/ synths get to play lead and solo passages, frequently merged together as befitting a Progressive band…but most of the time the guitar is in riff mode! In spite of these criticisms on my part, I dó like the album very much from the instrumental point, but then the singer has a rough voice which he uses rather sharply as well, stylistically, and in my book he’ll never make the top range of favourite vocalists!

Of course, you’re free to differ in opinion either way, but if the above mentioned things mean something to you, check out the two songs posted at myspace.com/painmanagementmetal. Additionally, you get an overview of the rest of the album in an album sample…and then there’s the studio report video you can check out.

81/100

Tony.