Tag Archives: pain

ProgPower USA XVIII Day Four Musings (9/9/2017)

Contributor Steven Stolper was on point enjoying the findings at the annual ProgPower USA Festival that takes place in Atlanta, Georgia at the Center Stage Atlanta theater and as already noted in one of the earlier chapters, PiercingMetal has NEVER been to the event despite the occasional interest. Fortunately, Agent Stolper was sending a final transmission to the Metal High Command from the field about this mission. Here now are his transcribed views bout the fourth and final day of ProgPowerUSA XVIII.

ProgPowerUSA XVIII Day 4: 3 days of nonstop music and parties take a toll on the body and the mind, so difficult choices had to be made and some sets were skipped. Pain and Amaranthe namely. All of the Day 4 bands except the opener were from Sweden, a testament to the country’s great contribution to the genre and popular music in general.

Seven Spires (USA):
Australia’s Teramaze was originally scheduled to perform in the opening timeslot, but unfortunately had to cancel a few days before due to health issues. That was upsetting because Teramaze was one of the bands I was looking forward to the most. Their latest album, Her Halo, was a really tasty slab of melodic prog metal. Boston’s SevenSpires answered the call and rushed to Georgia to bring their brand of metal to the masses. Seven Spires play aggressively melodic euro power metal with a female singer named Adrienne Cowan, who does both clean and extreme vocals equally well. Their video single, Cabaret of Dreams, sounded true to its name live, like a metallized groovy cabaret number. Other songs were more traditional, with many pounding harsh voiced numbers. The band had a very energetic stage presence and did a good job whipping the somewhat sleepy audience back into fighting shape.
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Orphaned Land & Pain Announce North American Tour

Sometimes I feel as though I am announcing a new tour every single day but as opposed to being annoyed by this I think its pretty cool that we are alerting the Metal Legions to the incredible vibrancy that our artists have to offer the fans on the live stage. This latest announcement was an awesome one to see hitting my mail box so please check it out below.

The Press Release:
PAIN announces North American tour dates w/ Orphaned Land – PAIN, the Swedish industrial-metal force led by multi-instrumentalist and producer Peter Tägtgren (HYPOCRISY, LINDEMANN), will make their first ever North American appearance this upcoming September.

Comments Tägtgren:
“Painheads of America and Canada! We’re happy to finally be doing a North American tour together with Orphaned Land. Be there or be square. It might be the only chance to see Pain on this continent!”

Adds Orphaned Land: “For the past years we read every message, comment & Email you sent us – asking us to come back to the USA for a full tour. Now, finally – IT’S HAPPENING. See you in September”
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“Live Is Overrated” by Pain

Artist: Pain
Title: “Live Is Overrated”
Label: Music Video Distributors
Release Date: 1/24/2006
Genre: Gothic/Industrial Metal
Rating: 8/10

Peter Tagtgren is not the type of musician who lets the grass grow under his feet in any fashion. Musically, he showcases this with Progressive Death Metal giants Hypocrisy and the band Pain; captured in concert on this DVD. He tempers these musical adventures by performing wonders in the recording studio as Producer for such Metal legends as Dimmu Borgir and Dark Funeral. Those that enjoy the work that he has done in Hypocrisy will find this Gothic Metal Industrial group to be a shock to the system unless they have an open mind. It falls better alongside that of Rammstein and Nine Inch Nails than the blistering Death Metal that he is also known for. I admit that I had only heard the name in recent months and as result was not aware of any of the music this band performed. Yet knowing the level of talent that makes up a man like Tagtgren and being someone who leans to the Power and Gothic side of Metal, the idea truly piqued my interest. The concert was filmed at the Metalmania Festival in Katowice, Poland in early 2005 and while only 8 songs in length it is a great sampling of what this band is all about.
Right off the bat I enjoyed “End Of The Line” and “Shut Your Mouth” with most of the music having a strong Metal feel to it, yet draped in the Industrial Gothic side. There is not much of the slow droning that happens sometimes in Gothic music yet in “Just Hate Me” you have a slow verse that leads to a power chord chorus and it is delivered quite well. “Same Old Song” is probably my favorite from the main feature and if people want a difference on mainstream Rock radio they should start requesting this and seeking this band on iTunes.
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