Artist: PAIN
Album: COMING HOME (CD)

Year: 2016
EAN/UPS: 727361321222
Media type: CD

“A powerful, triumphant record, like a masterful ride out of the darkness to the dawn of victory.“
ROCK HARD (IT), Barbara Volpi


“That's me, designed to piss you offˮ - when Peter Tägtgren is ascending from the depths of his legendary Abyss Studio to take the microphone, a little musical revolution is inevitable. Because what else would you expect from HYPOCRISY's death metal veteran, who not only plays industrial metal with PAIN, but is considered to be one of the most influential producers in the metal scene (DIMMU BORGIR, CHILDREN OF BODOM, SABATON etc.), and just recently launched his controversial project LINDEMANN in partnership with RAMMSTEIN's frontman Till.

Since the beginning of his career in the early 90s, the Swedish allrounder has enjoyed diving into the extreme and has grown to be an untameable force. But this is exactly what makes him so fascinating. Taboos, creative stagnation or genre boundaries have never existed in the world of the 46-year-old mastermind. And, of course, Peter Tägtgren wandered the same unexplored paths when the time came to forge »Coming Home«, the 8th studio release of the industrial institution PAIN. However, the path was long and winding and therefore, the writing process for the follow-up of 2011's »You Only Live Twice« wasn't all fun and games - but Peter Tägtgren is well prepared for the fight:

“Sometimes you pull your hair out and lay sleepless all night long, because you can't figure out this one chorus or don't know how to finish a certain song,ˮ admits singer and axeman Peter. “That's just me: When I dive into it, there's no ending in sight. It's a self-destructive mechanism. But I want perfection - or I don't want it at all.ˮ

Therefore, it is no wonder, that PAIN deliver a revolutionary mix of styles on this new release - bizarre alternative metal meets electronic melodies - and, in addition, the band weave some spectacular orchestral arrangements into the tracks on »Coming Home«, without risking any cheesy moments or overloading the songs. The result are ten highly addictive metal hymns with massive depth and experimentation. Especially with the orchestrated parts, PAIN entered a new era and seeked assistance from CARACH ANGREN's Clemens “Ardekˮ Wijers, who added some magical final touches to Peter's bombastic songwriting. But PAIN also allow the album to breathe with beautiful acoustic guitar intros appearing hand in hand with stormy moments, showing the band at the zenith of their creativity.

When it comes to guest musicians, »Coming Home« rolls out a red carpet: On drums, Peter's 17-year-old son Sebastian Tägtgren delivers an impressive guest appearance and for the song 'Call Me', SABATON's Joakim Brodén joins the team for some typically raw warrior vocals. But a PAIN release wouldn't be a typical masterpiece without some enthralling lyrics and fascinating topics: On the callboy-singalong 'Call Me' or 'Final Crusade', the band crawl through the deepest corners of society and the human mind, while 'Absinthe-Phoenix Rising' is based upon an incident in Leipzig during PAIN's tour with NIGHTWISH, where the band were attacked and beat up after leaving an Absinthe bar. And of course, lovers of mystery and conspiracy theories also get their money's worth with 'Black Knight Satellite', just like on many previous HYPOCRISY releases:

“Nikola Tesla, who invented the lightbulb, electricity and other stuff, thought that he heard beeping sounds from space,ˮ Peter explains the story that inspired the song. “It was around the year 1899 and it seemed like a message to him, a hidden code. He was the first one to discover it, but in the 1950s, when humans started to go into space, they heard the same noises and found out: There is some signal from a satellite out there... but it isn't ours. And as they started their research, they found out, that people had been talking about this phenomenon for around 13.000 years. The story of this so-called 'Black Knight Satellite' is very fascinating to me - but whether it is true or not... I don't know. But it definitely inspired me to write these lyrics.ˮ

Fitting the alien conspiracy and space theme, PAIN teamed up with Stefan Heilemann for an obscure and spectacular album cover, after the German artist had already produced breathtaking artworks for LINDEMANN and EPICA.

So take a deep breath, before you jump into this sea of industrial metal, thunderous orchestra arrangements and thrilling conspiracy theories - and Swedes, who are just designed to piss you off, in their most elegant way.


TRACKLIST CD:

01. Designed To Piss You Off
02. Call Me
03. A Wannabe
04. Pain In The Ass
05. Black Knight Satellite
06. Coming Home
07. Absinthe-Phoenix Rising
08. Final Crusade
09. Natural Born Idiot
10. Starseed