You like Nightwish, Charon,
Reflexion and Eternal Tears of Sorrow.?
You'd like a band made up of members from each?
Well yes, of course you would.
For My Pain is Juha (
Reflexion) Kylmanen on vocals, Tuomas (Nightwish) Holopainen on keyboards, Lauri (Charon) Tuohimaa on guitar, Altti (ETofS)Vetelainen on bass, Olli-Pekka (ETofS) Torro on guitar and Petri (ETofS) Sankala on drums.
And their one and only album, '
Fallen', doesn't disappoint.
It was originally released in
Europe in 2003 and is only now getting a UK release thanks to Spinefarm's man at Universal, the celebrated Dante Bonutto.
'
Fallen' is just brimming over with high calibre melodic metal, carefully measured, perfectly weighted. Gothic rock for
AOR fans, with real hooks and stadium sized choruses.
The album is a blitz of sturdy melodies, beautifully crafted rock songs and urgent, driving arrangements, all lovingly painted onto a huge canvas, using scale and simplicity to create a classic, classically influenced affair. Unfortunately, in places it lacks light and shade and at times it lacks depth. It's all a bit earnest, a bit po faced. But that's the nature of the melodic metal beast, particularly the Finnish variant.
Juha Kylmanen is a truly magnificent vocalist who, unlike others in the genre, has no need to depend on twisted vocal mannerisms and/or guttural growls to make an impression. His clean, crisp voice - a powerful baritone - dovetails perfectly with Tuohimaa's and Torro's big, semi distorted riffs and Holopainen's epic, widescreen keyboard passages. It's just that sometimes it's too far down in the mix.
'Rapture Of Lust' is how
Brother Firetribe would sound if they went down the melodic metal route. The evanescent '
Dancer In The Dark' is a full scale tilt at the alternative charts, with the silken voiced Miriam Renvag sharing vocals with Kylmanen. Tuohimaa's and Torro's effortless twin guitar interplay illuminates the dark corners here that other musicians just can't reach, probably elevating this to standout track.
Most tracks intro with a growing swell of keyboards and accelerating guitars, both gathering pace as they lead us into the opening verse and vocals.
And naturally there's a fast flowing undertow of melancholy powering each and every one.
It's a blueprint that works almost every time, seldom becoming repetitive, but it works best on the blood pumping
'Queen Of Misery' and on the monstrous riffing and thudding rhythms of the delightfully titled '
Dear Carniwhore'.
That said, '
Broken Days', sketched around a dominant piano, if not quite breaking the mould, does some attractive remodelling of the formula.
We should hope their busy work schedules will allow them some mutually convenient time to write and record a follow up.
Written by
Brian Tuesday, March 10, 2009
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