Perhaps the biggest and most talked about band in all of 2022, New Jersey’s extreme metal outfitters Lorna Shore have solidified and created such a massive reputation over the years. As someone who’s been following them since Flesh Coffin, I was immediately fell in love with their signature blend of deathcore but as years go by, they’ve incorporated symphonic and melodic passageways making every song bringing out characteristics and the amount of sheer brutality and narrative this band created on Pain Remains is absolutely wonderful. In 2021, they’ve released their EP And I Return To Nothingness which was a proper demonstration and glimpse of what fans of the band were expecting and man, the hype behind that record gained massive attraction making the song, To The Hellfire quickly became the fastest growing and talked about songs not just on Century Media Records’s YouTube channel but it gave many fans a chance to understand the importance of what Lorna Shore’s music truly became to be.
Now in 2022, just 2 years after their last album Immortal came out, Pain Remains is the next evolution and sound for this band and I can proudly say Pain Remains is without question, the band’s emotional, captivating, heaviest and straightforward albums they’ve ever created. Musically, lyrically and stylistically speaking, this album is a experimental embodiment of work incorporating many elements of extreme music that not only Lorna Shore did a remarkable job into creating a conceptual album about different lyrical themes from suicide, death, anger and sadness, but the whole dynamics, execution and instrumentation being such a powerhouse on this record is more tighter, stronger and have emphasis on heavy atmospheric dosages which to me is such a strong component on Pain Remains.
Compared to Immortal and other Lorna Shore albums, Pain Remains still maintains the biblical, blackened, technical, symphonic and atmospheric approach of deathcore that’s a massive improvement and continuation within their musicality which says something because everything from the guitars, bass, powerhouse drumming and shattered breakdowns and bone-crushing chemistry that are fantastically driven beginning to end. With tracks such as Into The Earth, Wrath, Pain Remains III: In A Sea Of Fire and my absolute favorite on the whole record being Cursed To Die, they’ve taken the black metal compositions to whole new level making the lyricism on the album stronger, intelligent and beautifully designed as the production introduces a new evolution for this Jersey extreme metal band to new heights and contributed organic branches making the songs a complete fresh intake for the genre.
Compared to Immortal and other Lorna Shore albums, Pain Remains still maintains the biblical, blackened, technical, symphonic and atmospheric approach of deathcore that’s a massive improvement and continuation within their musicality which says something because everything from the guitars, bass, powerhouse drumming and shattered breakdowns and bone-crushing chemistry that are fantastically driven beginning to end. With tracks such as Into The Earth, Wrath, Pain Remains III: In A Sea Of Fire and my absolute favorite on the whole record being Cursed To Die, they’ve taken the black metal compositions to whole new level making the lyricism on the album stronger, intelligent and beautifully designed as the production introduces a new evolution for this Jersey extreme metal band to new heights and contributed organic branches making the songs a complete fresh intake for the genre.
The members from Lorna Shore defined, construct and craft deathcore, Black Metal and slight traces of Technical Death Metal with intersections of distinctive barriers that’s insanely heavy, dark and taking next natural steps is what made so spectacular. Whether it’s the orchestrations, accessible elements of emotional deliverance and implementing haunting sequences of understanding instrumentals, Pain Remains is Lorna Shore’s matured, heaviest, impressive, organic and engaging albums they’ve done to date. From melodic chord progressions, Black Metal-esque drumming, sweeping guitars, monstrous vocals and brutalized breakdowns of blackened forces not to be reckoning with, Pain Remains takes modern deathcore to whole new approach showcasing this New Jersey band take its toll to the highest peak of the mountain and continued to impress me of how astonishing this truly came to be.
Pain Remains is a modern extreme metal masterpiece that promises to entertain deathcore fans with naturalistic musical compositions and taking compassionate lyricism to the deepest and darkest storytelling deathcore albums you’ll hear in 2022.
Overall score. 10/10
Review by Jake Butler
