REVIEW: Lorna Shore – Pain Remains [2022]

Artist: Lorna Shore
Album: Pain Remains

If you’re reading this review, or looking forward to this album, there’s a good chance you’ve spiraled at one point in your life. And while everyone is always fixated on getting better, no one ever wants to talk about the “after.” That is to say, no one ever wants to acknowledge what happens after the therapy, after the medication, after the “stay up king” text messages stop rolling in—after the weeks and weeks spent dissociating yourself to sleep at night, staring at a ceiling fan, hoping for change. No one ever wants to talk about it because no one ever wants to acknowledge the fact that after all of that, there’s still a well-above-average chance nothing actually changes, and whatever sent you spiraling is still there, staring back at you. That after everything else, only your pain remains.
Lorna Shore found themselves in a similar position just a little over two years ago now; staring down a global pandemic with a scandal-tinged full length record, cancelled tours and only countless clickbait MetalSucks or Lambgoat articles to show for it. Despite this, however, in the two years that would follow, Lorna Shore would essentially cash in the check they’ve spent the better part of ten years writing—releasing …And I Return to Nothingness with frontman Will Ramos at the helm, instantaneously shooting them into the stratosphere and well beyond what was ever considered a reasonable level of fame for a deathcore band. Now, with 2022 coming to a close, the band are back with their fourth full length release, Pain Remains—a release that once again sees them collectively pushing the boundaries of the genre they call home. Fusing dense, dark black metal into a bold symphonic deathcore backbone robust and laden with technicality, sludge and languishing aggression, Pain Remains is a riveting release well worth the hype and immense anticipation it has garnered in the build-up to its release.
It should come as no real surprise that the instrumentation throughout Pain Remains is nothing short of immaculate. Borrowing traditional deathcore’s love for the almighty breakdown and putting it in an 80-miles-per-hour head-on collision with blackened death metal’s fiendish obsession with blast beats and dismal atmosphere, Lorna Shore have effectively taken a style and over a couple years popularized it, perfected it and made it synonymous with themselves. From the ominous introduction on “Welcome Back, O’ Sleeping Dreamer” through the driving, frantic chorus of “Into the Earth” or “Sun//Eater” and through the three-part blitz that is the Pain Remains trilogy, Lorna Shore keep the listener on the edge of their seat, jaw slacked, lusting for the next chug, riff or fill.
On the topic of instrumentation, it would be remiss not to mention percussionist Austin Archey, who has rapidly and rightfully become one of deathcore’s (and heavy music in general’s) head honchos when it comes to skill behind the skins. Blending insane speed with inventive technicality and subtle bounce, Archey is impressive even when he isn’t actively showing off (a la “Apotheosis” or “Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames”). What’s more is that Archey works beautifully with bassist Michael (“Moke”—we all know him as Moke) Yager. Archey and Yager play out their real-world bromance through vivacious instrumentation throughout the entirety of Pain Remains, with “Wrath” and “Cursed to Die” shining as two highlights. Between Archey’s speed and Yager’s precision with an otherwise unwieldily and cantankerous low-end, Lorna Shore’s instrumentation could not have asked for a better foundation.
Where Archey and Yager shine, as do guitarists Adam De Micco and Andrew O’Connor. Together, the duo work alongside a stunning series of orchestral arrangements and symphonic touches to bring scathing riffs pouring down on the listener’s head. “Welcome Back, O’ Sleeping Dreamer” is an immaculate example—starting with a stuttering, choppy breakdown that rampages on into a sharp series of riffs that complement the band’s flair for the cinematic brilliantly. These same approaches are taken and expanded upon in the tracks that follow, with some songs feeling distinctly focused on furious fretwork (“Sun//Eater,” “Wrath” and “Apotheosis”) and others feeling more akin to if Lord of the Rings had breakdowns (“Soulless Existence,” “Cursed to Die.”) Between these two relative extremes, De Micco and O’Connor round out the band’s immense instrumental approach, and collectively—with the help of producer Josh Schroeder—make Pain Remains one of the most colossal deathcore records out there.
Then, there’s Ramos. There isn’t a lot to be said about Lorna Shore’s frontman that hasn’t been said already, so I’ll keep it brief—but it bears repeating: Ramos is one of the most versatile and overall talented vocalists in the world of extreme music right now, and I don’t think it’s really even up for debate. Throughout Pain Remains, Ramos proves himself to be a peerless master of all things screamed, shouted, bellowed or gurgled. “Wrath” highlights his low end with riveting force, just as “Sun//Eater” and “Pain Remains III: In a Sea of Fire” highlight his ability to toggle from low to high (or vice-versa) without skipping a syllable. Where Pain Remains is surprising, however, is when it comes to its lyrical content. While there are still medieval themes and lore-tinted lyrics throughout songs like “Sun//Eater” or the album’s opening cut, Ramos (and all of Lorna Shore, really) get introspective on the record as well, and this is best demonstrated in the band’s three-part title track. The “Pain Remains” trilogy take the listener on a tour of loss, grief and sorrow—a relative Kubler-Ross adaptation, in a way—to righteous effect. “Pain Remains I: Dancing Like Flames” sees the band put out a sort of deathcore “ballad” (as the Internet has taken to naming it), while the two songs that follow expand on that idea ten-fold, infusing it with even more emotion, intensity and visceral brutality. These ideas, while integrated seamlessly in the instrumentation, are hammered home by Ramos’ vocal skill and lyrical prowess, allowing Lorna Shore to do what many of the band’s blackened and symphonic peers haven’t.
Amid the cavalcades of (rightfully earned) praise Lorna Shore have amassed, there remain some criticisms—mostly those of every song “sounding the same,” or a similar iteration. There are a lot of reasons why that’s a weird critique (shouldn’t songs from the same artists on the same record sound…well, a little bit the same?), but it also doesn’t objectively hold true when going through Pain Remains on a track-by-track basis. Songs like “Wrath” and “Apotheosis” re-demonstrate how balls-to-the-wall heavy they can be (“Wrath” is a frontrunner for 2022’s heaviest song, spoiler alert), while “Soulless Existence” and “Pain Remains I” and “Pain Remains III” highlight the band’s ability to play heavily into their more atmospheric and ethereal side. Between these two extremes, Lorna Shore oscillate readily, with each song favoring a slightly different ratio between the two, and boasting lyrical variety to match.
Pain Remains is a lot of things, but despite dense instrumental complexity, intense vocal dynamism, brilliant lyricism and marvelous production it also manages to be a remarkably fun record—and undoubtedly 2022’s finest foray into the world of deathcore. While Lorna Shore have encountered more than their fair share of pain, they use all of it on Pain Remains, and have crafted something truly immaculate.

10/10
For Fans Of: Ingested, Dimmu Borgir, Thy Art is Murder, A Wake in Providence, Suicide Silence
By: Connor Welsh