REVIEW: Justice for the Damned - Pain is Power [2020]
Artist: Justice for the Damned
Album: Pain is Power
Pain is a potentmotivator. It’s a mechanism by which people teach right from wrong, enforce conditioning,dissuade from negative habits—its one of very few things that is trulyuniversal In the fashion that it transcends language, dialect and even species.Everyone knows pain—but what they use it for and what they do withit differ enormously from person to person. When it comes to using pain as animpetus for crafting relentlessly heavy beatdown-infused metalcore, look nofurther than Justice for the Damned’s 2020 full length record, Pain is Power.A thoroughly oppressive display of no-holds-barred aggression, Pain Is Powerborrows elements from hardcore, metalcore, beatdown and death metal to create ariff-laden, bone-busting, skin-splitting onslaught that uses an entirearmamentarium of heavy music tactics to bewilder and brutalize the listener.Energetic and eviscerating, Pain is Power sees Justice for the Damnedstepping things up on all fronts, giving old fans and newcomers both one of themost ruthless displays of heavy music the year as seen thus far.
Pain isPower is a curious amalgam of heavy music stylings that doesn’t cleanly fitinto any specific subsect of metalcore, hardcore or death metal. In a word,Justice for the Damned are aggressive—nothing more, nothing less. Every song onPain is Power is crushing from the opening lick to the closing breakdown,be it opening cut “Guidance from the Pain,” ultra-catchy “No Peace at the Feetof Your Master” or closing anthem “Die By the Fire.” The band is built on fast-and-pisseddrumming that uses quick hands and strong, thick kick drum hits to lay down a firmamentfrom which the band’s gritty, heavy bass adds (even more) heft to the mix. “Machineof War” highlights this excellently, with crunchy bass and thick percussionbeating the listener as if they were a duo of sledgehammers. This dynamic opensup the floor for furiously fretted riffs and monstrous leads from the band’sguitarists. Just about every song has at least one riff that knocks thelistener’s head back—and the ones that don’t absolutely have a breakdown that hitsjust as hard, if not harder. While “No Peace at the Feet of Your Master” is ariff heavy jaunt through the band’s staunch metallic influence, “Pain is Power”and “The House You Built is Burning” are more straightforward displays of metalcoreaggression. “Die By the Fire” strikes a middle ground, with leads that eveninclude atmospheric elements that segue smoothly into spine-shrinkingbreakdowns that leave the listener practically quivering. Justice for theDamned run the entire gamut of heavy music stylings when it comes to theirfretwork, using scathing leads, solos, grooves and grisly breakdowns to theirpeak efficacy to create a heavy record that is both intriguing andeviscerating.
Vocally, Painis Power is just as crushing as it is instrumentally. “Pain is Power” is anexcellent example, with harsh, visceral screams hammering home lyricsdiscussing overcoming adversity and the struggle that entails. Justice for theDamned’s vocal delivery is raw and riveting throughout Pain is Power, andwhile there isn’t necessarily a boatload of variety within the band’s vocalapproach, there is enough intensity to keep the listener engaged withoutmissing a beat. Songs like “The House You Built is Burning” keep the listenersweating throughout the entire duration, as does “Sinking Into the Floor”—a songthat experiments with atmosphere among the onslaught of aggression that comesalong with. In light of this, the relative vocal monotony Is welcome as itkeeps the album flowing smoothly and at a constant, flesh-melting intensity.
Justice forthe Damned might just be one of Australia’s most intense and heavy bands. Painis Power stops at nothing to bust every bone in the listener’s head—and,concomitantly, neck—by delivering immolating metal in just about every form afan of conventional heavy music could want. While it doesn’t necessarily reinventthe wheel, it does bring a whole new meaning to “heavy.” Sounding somethinglike late 2000s Parkway Drive got chucked into a blender with Kublai Khan,Honest Crooks, Desolated and Malevolence, Pain is Power is smoldering andsinister—a sure must-listen for any fan of heavy music.
9/10
For Fans Of: Desolated, Malevolence, Honest Crooks, KublaiKhan
By: Connor Welsh