Review by Saxy S for Lorna Shore - Pain Remains (2022)

The sudden acclaim that has poured at the feet of Lorna Shore is nothing short of incredible. Once a fairly generic deathcore band during the 2010s, following a multiple vocalist delay to the bands tenure, one which included multiple sexual misconduct allegations, Lorna Shore hired a fresh face in Will Ramos to take the helm. And following a 2021 EP that shook the metalcore world down to its core, we finally have a full length LP to indulge in.

And to say that it is conflicting is a bit of an understatement. This new sound can be best compared to Fleshgod Apocalypse by just how insane some of the instrumental work is. The drums sound inhumane at times, while the guitar is playing really fast tremolo picking patterns that are occasionally broken up by a solo. The low end is massive, and the symphonic elements give each one of these songs a genuine melody or two to build from. Will Ramos' vocals are really something in how they are able to be manipulated through screeching highs, guttural lows, and everything in between. Once again, I return to the word "inhumane" because that might be the only appropriate way to describe the pure hell that exists on Pain Remains.

Unlike Fleshgod Apocalypse though, this is a deathcore band so get ready for breakdowns, and a lot of them. Like with so many of the worst metalcore albums, the breakdowns are what make or break the record for me and I can tell that Lorna Shore does not do nearly enough to change this. Pain Remains seems to think that the best thing for its breakdowns is to remove the symphonic elements entirely, drop the tempos down painstakingly, and chug its way to the most disgusting stank face you can make. They feel very simplistic with very little variety. Some of the breakdowns on "Into the Earth", parts of "Sun//Eater" and "Soulless Existence" sound good, and the restrain to hold the pummeling breakdown to the very end of the closing suite "Pain Remains" is well executed.

But it's the production that keeps this record from achieving anything greater. This record is trying so hard to sound epic and transcendent that many of its most important elements are drowned out by the noise. A relentless percussion, especially the kick drum, sound overly mic'd and drowns out the symphonic melodies. In addition the vocals are pretty high concept with themes of depression as well as growth from that depression, so why are Ramos' vocals so condensed and hidden behind an endless wall of effects? I understand that, in this kind of music, the delivery of the vocals is more important than the words themselves. But then why would the band put so much time and effort into them like this? It all feels like far too much stuff is happening and nothing is allowed to breathe.

At the end of the day, Pain Remains is a good album. Not in a long time have I heard a technical death metal/deathcore album that was as melodically driven as this one. Not in a long time have I made a stank face during a breakdown as filthy as these ones. But the album is incredibly flawed in many of the same ways that so many other technical death meal/deathcore albums are flawed. And that starts with the production. It's an album that shows potential, but tries too hard for the sake of accessibility, and at the determent of the album's quality. These songs likely sound much better live than they do digitally. I guess the...high gain remains.

Best Songs: Into the Earth, Cursed to Die, Soulless Existence, Pain Remains II: After All I've Done, I'll Disappear