Review Supreme Pain - Divine Incarnation 2011

Supreme Pain, is that what you get from listening to this band? Maybe that is why this band that started out as a side project by Aad from Sinister along with Robi from Scaffold took this name, or maybe it is for some other reason altogether. Lot has happened though since the band started, Robi has left the band and several others have come and gone, two albums have seen the light of day and now recently the third hone has as well and it is called Divine Incarnation.

The reason for this band/project was that they wanted to make traditional brutal death metal with the modern production that is available today. I would say that it is what they do, it is traditional death metal in style with heavy fast blasting drums, screaming aggressive guitar work and guttural demonic growling. It has an air of sinister evilness to it, dark and aggressive is how it can be described. I think the singer Aad’s regular band Sinister is one good reference in case you want to have bands to compare to, bands like Nile or Morbid Angel are other bands that can be said to be rather similar. There are some melodic touches to it but they are not that many and the brutality is what dominates the soundscape of this album. It is an album that cannot really be described as varied, it has a rather unchanging character to it. The production has a modern feel to it in the way that you hear the different elements of the music much clearer than used to be the part back in the day when these old traditional bands started out. It is an album which has ten tracks and it takes slightly over 47 minutes to play it through once and about eight hours to review it.

So what about this band? are they any good? I would say that the answer depends on wether or not you like traditional death metal in the style of the bands I referred to earlier in the text. If you do like that kind of music it would seem as though you probably will think this is good as well, I have seen some reviews to back this assumption as well so it is not completely taken out of the air. If you prefer music that has a melodic touch, then I do believe you should look elsewhere for your next album to check out as this is not really for you. I think there are some forgiving and good elements to this, such as the non-awful production that at least makes to sound somewhat civilised in comparison to the ”classic” bands in the genre. In general though it lacks variation and that makes 47 minutes seem like at least one eternity. There are not really anything on this album that really capture me, the songs are of traditional style and there are no real hit songs or anything remotely similar to something like it. I think it sounds like they are trying to make the traditional death metal in a little more modern sense in the same way as Hollywood remakes old movies. I see it as a lack of imagination and creativity, this band seems like they are satisfied with being just another traditional death metal band with that kind of sound. If that is what they want it is fine by me but at the same time it feels a bit like they lack ambition.

So in the end I would say that this is a traditional brutal death metal album with a modern production. It is hard, aggressive, the vocals are kind of sleepy and the overall feel is one of recycling. Maybe they are something for the environmental movement, recycling old music, polishing it to make it seem new again it is a bit like buying second hand I would say. But if you like the traditional death metal and bands like the ones I mention I am sure you will find this good. I think Sinister’s latest album was better since it was more melodic and varied but that’s just me. If you are more of a melodic kind of guy I think you would be wise to look elsewhere for good music, this is only for the already inaugurated.

HHHHHHH

Supreme Pain Divine Incarnation

Supreme Pain
Divine Incarnation