ALBUM REVIEW: Pain Is Power – Justice For The Damned

If their 2017 debut Dragged Through The Dirt felt like a potential calm before the storm, consider Australian deathcore mob JUSTICE FOR THE DAMNED running at gale force speed on sophomore record Pain Is Power. An album that packs an almost intolerably harsh punch, this five piece have transitioned themselves from just another band on the radar, to one of the most visceral outfits in the pack within three years.

That’s not down to any grandiose ingenuity though, no, JUSTICE FOR THE DAMNED aren’t out here trying to nuance the playbook – this is deathcore with a jagged smile. But that’s not to take anything away from Pain Is Power, if anything, the Aussies nail the basics down so well you almost don’t want them to experiment.

The bludgeoning A Crimson Painting is an ode to this concept – its frantic lead guitar opening soon gives way to the familiar sound of blast beat anarchy. True, you’ve heard it before, but there’s such a venemous, abrasive delivery here that you can’t help but feel dragged in all over again. Vocalist Bobak Rafiee‘s pre-beakdown cursive growl of “If you want me to last, take a fucking picture” is the kind of bone shuddering darkness you’d expect from Phil Bozeman too, but the predictable chaos is alluring.

It’s no surprise that the bands sound has been turned up to 11 when you realise Will Putney was behind the glass. The producer puts in another stellar performance here – adding a thickness to JUSTICE FOR THE DAMNED‘s battery that just wasn’t there prior. They were never a quintet that took half measures, but as you hear the tectonic shift of the title tracks rhythm hit full gear, you realise what an audio step up this is. Then there’s the wrecking machine of Blister Of The Plague, which blends flickering guitar licks with a nigh-on uninhabitable low tuning – if you want heavy, Pain Is Power brings it in abundance.

Referring to Pain Is Power as one of the most outrageously heavy, brutal records in recent memory sounds bold from the outset, but it’s really not. A relentless, crushing blood bath from its opening flicker to its last curb stomp – JUSTICE FOR THE DAMNED might have played by the rules here – but this record gives you no reason to critique that philosophy. If deathcore purists felt estranged at the latest THY ART IS MURDER and WHITECHAPEL offerings, they needn’t have worried – Pain Is Power quenches every heavy thirst they could possibly have.

Rating: 8/10

Pain Is Power is set for release on June 12th via Greyscale Records.

Like JUSTICE FOR THE DAMNED on Facebook.