Review Summary: Updated logo, Updated Lorna Shore
Lorna Shore have blown up over the past few years thanks to the surprising mass acceptance of “To the Hellfire” from their EP
…And I Return to Nothingness. With that song and its huge final breakdown, they managed to break beyond the confines of deathcore to the general metal-listening masses. With that in mind, I foresee two different kinds of audiences looking for two different kinds of reviews. There will be the reviews by longtime Lorna Shore fans written
for longtime Lorna Shore fans, and there will be reviews by people with very little background on the band (and probably the deathcore genre), intrigued by the EP and subsequent singles, taking their first tentative steps into both; I fall into the latter category. I’ve never been a fan of deathcore, its incessant breakdowns, its wall of blast beats, or its unintelligible grunts, gurgles, and shrieks – but something is very tangibly different about modern Lorna Shore.
I’m not going to lie, the first time I listened to
Pain Remains I skipped straight to “Pain Remains I” because I couldn’t wait to finish the song. If you didn’t know, “Pain Remains I” is the latest single from the upcoming album, and right at the climax the song just stops. It’s an absolute nut-punch, probably similar to the one felt by people at the end of
Avengers: Infinity War when at the peak emotional moment, the movie ends with no resolve. I needed to know if they carried that final poignant melody into “Pain Remains II” or if they went off on a new tangent; it turns out they go in a different direction. While that makes me wish they had fleshed out the end of “Part I” a little more, the blackened metalcore riff that takes its place is one of my favorites. If the huge melodies and emotional slant of “Pain Remains I” didn’t tip you off, the “Pain Remains” trilogy is easily the most melodic, emotive, and non-deathcore song(s) on the album. It’s a symphonic metal tour de force full of peaks and valleys, huge hooks courtesy of both guitars and keyboard / symphonic elements and is the perfect way to close out the album… but I had opted to open the album with it.
After going through the epic closer first, I had to hope the rest of the album would live up to the standard that had been set – and mostly it does. Within the first three minutes of opener “Welcome Back, O Sleeping Dreamer” the band firmly establishes what to expect from
Pain Remains. It starts with an ambitious symphonic section complete with choir vocals before whiplashing straight into high-tempo blackened death metal and Will Ramos’ guttural vocals. This only last a few moments before moving to a brief djent section that is interrupted by the first of many breakdowns. This constant shift from one musical element to another (usually at breakneck speeds) is hard to follow at first, but for new listeners, Lorna Shore has provided a lifeline in the form of cyclical melodies from both the symphonic elements and guitars. Over the chaos of individual songs is usually a strong, yet simplistic, melody that provides a consistent component while trying to digest the underlying whirlwind. These melodies usually serve as the hook, as well.
What may be surprising, however, is Will Ramos’ vocals provide a solid hook too. If you’re unfamiliar with his style, his current repertoire includes just about every style of harsh vocals you might imagine. His vocals can reach the lowest gutturals all the way to the high shrieks of black metal (often in an instant), but he also includes whispers, weird vocal ‘noises’, and metalcore-style shouts as well. His ability to cover all these styles while also including quite a bit of inflection and intelligible enunciation means he can carry these choruses (and the songs in general) despite the fact there isn’t a single melodic vocal refrain in the entire album. He also tends to layer each song with both high and low vocals running in unison so that they never become monotonous. The guitar solos, too, deserve their own mention because on an album full of excess, they’re the classiest, most refined part of every song; able to convey a sense of emotion and virtuosity while also providing the segue to each song’s epic finale.
I do have some gripes and complaints but, they’re kind of asinine because they all revolve around a central theme of wanting this deathcore band to be less deathcore. I’m talking about the relentless blast beats and wall of double bass that dominates so much of this album. Each song is a journey that weaves through multiple sections, always building towards an eventual impressive climax – keys change, vocals become more urgent, volumes surge upward, symphonic elements swell… and the drums are mostly an unchanging barrage of double bass. I feel like a lot of these songs would benefit from a more varied percussive style where they build and grow like almost every other element. I also wish the drums were a little lower in the mix and the rhythm guitar and bass a little higher. I’m also referring to the sheer number of breakdowns. The ones that blend with the songs are great, but there are more than a few that simply kill the vibe. Again, I understand this is a deathcore band and I might as well be bitching about how snow should be less cold while I’m out snowboarding, but it is what it is.
Listening to
Pain Remains is like watching a top-tier action blockbuster. Whether or not that appeals to you will depend on your opinion of bombast, excess, and chaos because everything has been dialed up to eleven. The symphonic elements have gone from an interesting augmentation to an enormous and fully realized facet of Lorna Shore’s sound. The guitar melodies are much more prominent and memorable, the solos are classy and impassioned, and the drums dominate with fills, blast beats, and a near unrelenting wall of double bass. The breakdowns, too, are enormous and crushing providing momentary respites from the deathcore chugs, melodic black metal riffs, and brief technical flourishes. There are also the huge dynamic shifts that can transition from the most delicate of keyboard melodies all the way to huge crushing riffs, which help to deliver a stunning array of varied emotions. Of course, there’s also the vocals of Will Ramos, and they’ve absolutely been dialed to eleven. From soft whispers to creepy spoken word to guttural death growls and high-pitched black metal screeches, Will Ramos is all over the vocal spectrum. With the release of
Pain Remains, Lorna Shore have proven the hype they’ve received over the last few years is entirely justified, and as of this moment it is easily my favorite album of the year.
