Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Pain - You Only Live Twice (2011)

Even the most talented musicians can go through some rough sh*t in their personal lives. Peter Tagtgren has already survived a couple near-death experiences and gone through a couple divorces. He's still going strong as both a musician and prolific producer. And as we all know, Pain isn't his only band, he's also in Hypocrisy. His career was still standing in the two decades leading up to this album. So I guess this is kinda true, You Only Live Twice!

Pain's 7th album continues the cool blend of heaviness and melody for Tagtgren to pull off easily. Both the instrumentation and vocals continue from their previous album Cynic Paradise with a slight step back up in quality. Once again, we have more of this hyper industrial metal to both dance and headbang to.

The furious opening track "Let Me Out" is the most thrashy the band has ever sounded, already hinting at the greatness of this album. The second track "Feed the Demons" is darker and has more of a Marilyn Manson vibe. The synths and riffs get more upbeat in "The Great Pretender" and never stop. Still it's balanced out with dark melancholy to make another well-done highlight.

It then leads to the dramatic title track. It is followed by the anthemic "Dirty Woman", which brings things closer to classic hard rock, especially when Tagtgren vocally impersonates one of the AC/DC vocalists. "We Want More" has more emotion while staying upbeat.

I just adore PAIN's cover of "Leave Me Alone" by Sonic Syndicate as much as I love the original. This might fit well for the soundtrack of action-packed anime shows like Black Rock Shooter. Lots of incredible potential here! The next track "Monster" is the closest we have to the melodeath of Hypocrisy, all while maintaining the electro-metal mix. The slow brooding "Season of the Reaper" is the project's longest song at 6 and a half minutes, and g****mn, what a way to end this album!

Again, the bonus tracks are not much to note, containing remixes and live renditions of earlier tracks, and bookended by two new tracks. But if we ignore that bonus disc, You Only Live Twice is a near-perfect offering displaying how skillful Tagtgren is. It has all the fans want and enjoy, as the project keeps him active between Hypocrisy's releases!

Favorites: "Let Me Out", "The Great Pretender", "Dirty Woman", "Leave Me Alone", "Season of the Reaper"