Review Summary: Montréal is back on the map as ‘the’ hotspot for incredible death metal! Brought by Pain is but one of many up and coming legends from Quebec that continue to forge the mighty craft and will no doubt dominate the field in years to come!
It is not at all surprising to see that two members of Beyond Creation, Kevin Charté on guitar and Begin-Benoit on drums, are also members of Brought by Pain since both bands are from the same area. However, what is surprising is that both
The Aura and
The Dreamer’s Will were released in the same year and only 6 months apart from each other! Now with a highly successful debut, Brought by Pain can relax a little and let the fans take it from here. The absolutely insatiable music that this band had dropped back in November of last year by no means supersedes the complexity and genius of
The Aura (in which Beyond Creation’s bass guitarist played lead parts on occasion and the metal epic “The Deported” was showcased) but it does come close!
Like many bands that take on a progressive and technical approach to any subgenre of metal, repetition is thrown in the trash during the creative writing process in favour of an endless stream of complex verses and bridges. Each song on
The Dreamer’s Will is played in the same general area on the guitar but are still very openly differentiating. All riffs are given quite a bit of care and add very well thought out foresight, so that no matter what part of a song that the listener is on there is never an uninteresting moment! The arrangements of hooks are placed at all the right-sounding times, with some appearing during the introduction and within each bridge. Guitarists Kevin Charté and Olivier Bourbonnais-Allaire did a great job subtly entwining them to fit cosily together and in between each verse while making each shred in each bridge diverse and technically efficient.
The guitar riffs are very similar to those played by death metal bands that had approached the progressive strain of the subgenre long before the time of Brought by Pain. Many of them resemble those played by bands such as Deeds of Flesh, Spawn of Possession, and Suffocation by way of their constant tremolo picking and palm muted chugs between blasting jumps from one half scale to the next. The guitarists never fail to explore all of the notes that have been laid out before them on their instruments and use different techniques such as pinch harmonics, intricate chord ring-outs, multi-arpeggio sweeps, and furious trills to convey the complexity of their craft.
The vocals are very much the classic style that was long ago introduced during the late 80’s New York and Florida Death Metal Scenes. They are neither the unique voice-accented vocals of artists such as John Tardy (Obituary), Kelly Schaefer (Atheist), or Chuck Schuldiner (Death) nor the gritty from-gut-to-throat vocals of the genre’s Swedish counterparts. Instead, the vocals resemble most closely those of artists such as early Corpsegrinder (Cannibal Corpse), David Vincent (Morbid Angel), and Ross Dolan (Immolation). Vocalist Samuel Ouimet is credited with his fantastically evil sounding guttural vocals and spot-on accompaniment (at the appropriate times) for the instrumentation (which could technically stand on its own without a voice soaring over-top).
Finally, the drumming on
The Dreamer’s Will does not leave much room for improvement. Begin-Benoit is carrying on a legacy that was designed, perfected, and made infamous by drummers before him such as Mike Smith (Suffocation), Flo Mournier (Cryptopsy), and Lille Gruber (Defeated Sanity). But although he is not exactly dolling out the polyrhythms like Tomas Haake (Meshuggah), or the endless fill continuums of Romain Goulon (Necrophagist), he certainly has given most other advanced-level drummers some very well articulated inspiration (as well as some much needed heavy jams for those young and aspiring prospective metal artists of tomorrow). It should be very clear upon just 30 seconds of listening to the opening self-titled track of
The Dreamer’s Will that he is not to be taken lightly and has a very bright future ahead of him as a future architect of the classic technically-focused death metal drums.
Thus
The Dreamer’s Will is a death metal album that expresses furious technicality and progression. There is an endless supply of unrelenting brutality and musical complexity.
The Dreamer’s Will is an album reminiscent of styles that have been crafted by bands over a decade – several decades old and borrows the very same features showcased on the album
The Aura by Beyond Creation (with few exceptions). There are no flaws but beautiful execution, skilful articulation, and thoughtful riff structures and arrangements. However, what makes this a 4.5/5 rather than a 5/5 is that Brought by Pain did not expand on the genre, nor did they re-write it. This aspect of writing is absolutely crucial for a timeless classic and is what made albums such as
Unquestionable Presence,
None So Vile, and
Symbolic so unforgettable, leaving an inarguably defining template for bands that were inspired by these works to follow.
The whole album is recommended, don't bother listening to individual tracks unless sampling.
