Process Pain – Outcast of Society (Inverse Records)
Tuesday, 6th May 2014
Plenty of groove, plenty of attitude, plenty of rage. There seems to be plenty of everything on Process Pain’s debut album, Outcast of Society, even some serious melodies to be had. Taking a combination of death metal and thrash and sprinkling in a few ‘core elements (don’t be alarmed, it’s mostly harmless), Process Pain show they’ve got some chops to create a name for themselves with a bit of focus.
Outcast of Society operates on two basic ingredients: high energy and groove. The band spends plenty of time alternating between up-tempo, thrashing riffing and thick grooves. The groovier material seems like a cross between Lamb of God and Hatesphere, providing a good amount of headbang-friendly moments seemingly tailor-made to incite a raging live mosh pit. “Selfconfidence” is aptly titled, with some of the slickest of these grooves. The speedier moments lend themselves to Carnal Forge or The Haunted for inspiration with the added caveat of injected melodies. “Life Beyond Reason” begins to show this potential and “Steal the Grail” has some uncharacteristically melodic leads for the style but work to the band’s advantage. Unfortunately, the deviations from the powerful growls in said track do not work so well. Lastly, “Final Escape” brings things to an enjoyable close with some of these catchy melodic moments as well.
Along with the small vocal change in “Steal the Grail,” the one song that doesn’t seem to gel is somewhat predictably the one with the most ‘core influence. “N.O.I.S.” starts itself at a breakneck pace but more and more core influence sets in throughout the song and culminates with a slightly goofy repeated line that just falls a bit short. The band would be wise to eliminate some of the core-ish vibes and stick to what they work best with: modern death/thrash with massive groove. For what it is though, Outcast of Society is a fitting introduction to Process Pain and is ready to dole out some punishment for those interested.
