Perfection in Pain

By 2002 yours truly was a junior stockbroker with just enough disposable income to lap up just about anything the metal world could throw at him. And lo and behold, Earache was flogging off some new thrash/melodic death metal from some young Swedish band called Corporation 187. Oh and the producer is the mighty Peter Tagtgren.

Sounds like a winner and definitely worthy of spending my hard earned dollars on, doesn't it? Well not really. In fact this isn't even good in a generic kind of way.

What one gets is some extremely mediocre The Haunted worship. It is punchy and fast but completely unremarkable. The guitars and drums ramble on through the motions playing exactly what you expect a Swedish melodic death metal/thrash band to play. There is also some pointless uninspired guitar lead bits too, because you have to have them as well.

The vocals are harsh screaming typical of the style pioneered by At The Gates' Tomas Linberg, albeit typically generic and lacking in any uniqueness.

The only that might prove to be amusing are the lyrics. Sure a lot of them are standard rubbish about "life being pain," which was common enough in Swedish metal of the time. But some are truly ridiculous in a bad way. For example "Ghosts Of Confusion" waffles on about corrupt politicians filled with seed, turning into a penguin and evil airlines. "Liquid Truth" sings about staining someone's face with liquid truth.

Either something was lost in translation or these boys need to sign into rehab.

The production is acceptable for its era. Not too polished and not too raw. It certainly isn't what you expect from one Mr Tagtgren. So do yourself a favour and avoid this one if you ever see it in some bargain discount pile unless you need a spare CD case and a new coaster.

I really like the green colour on the cover of this album. I only mention that because that is probably going to be your first impression of Corporation 187, who are a little known Swedish band of metalheads. That colour green has also left me with the idea that it isn't a tortured human face that appears on the cover, but in fact a frog tortured to look like a human. Thankfully, the actual music gives me other things to think about, such as which kind of headbanging I should choose (short and fast, which is worst for my neck) and whether I should play the album again from the start.

We're firmly in the thrash and death genres here, especially if your concept of death is capacious enough to include melodeath, which Corporation 187 deal in at certain moments. The important thing about any death thrash hybrid is that the music should be fast and brutal, without compromising too much for melody or atmosphere, unless that atmosphere is something like descending into a dungeon of torture to have your entrails ripped out, which most death thrash fans find acceptable (sometimes metal asks more questions than it answers). If you came here for speed you won't be disappointed, because these guys don't waste much time: there are maybe 5 minutes of mid-paced material on this album and the rest is quick, nor do those 5 minutes exist as long sections in particular songs, since the pace changes at least once every 30 seconds, rarely settling down and, with relatively short songs, never becoming stale. We are also much closer to thrash metal than death metal as a result of the riffing style, which isn't too technical and contains some of the same bounce and swing that can be found on the earlier albums by The Haunted and Nightrage, though 'Slaughter of the Soul' is the precedent for this style. Therefore, it's more of a neo-thrash sound than a classic Slayer template and sounds more modern in style and production when compared to the band's debut, 2000's 'Subliminal Fear'.

The production perhaps exaggerates the gap between this album and the earlier material, since it gives a lot more "juice" to the sound, particularly that of the guitars. 'Subliminal Fear' was dry and dusty, so much so that the guitars sounded almost clean at times, which necessitated speed taking the lead and left groove and subtlety out of the equation. 'Perfection in Pain' has a lot more bite and crunch to the sound and the riffs move and bound along in a more convincing manner, which I have always found very enjoyable in thrash metal, but some purists declare too catchy and modern. The pinches and frills and so on are more pronounced here and the solos are better planned (not just random bursts of thrash shredding), so augment and ornament the songs, sometimes quite melodically. The sound of the rhythm section also takes a step up from the debut, though the change results in a less extreme sound. The bass is more sinuous and bouncy than pure death or thrash metal would allow, though the drums don't give up on blasts or extreme patterns, even if the neo-thrash/melodeath traits force a slight shift. More often than not, the guitars are producing the hooks while the drums are maintaining speed and aggression, so there is rarely a compromise in sound. The vocals have changed hands since the previous album and Filip Carlsson is the superior presence: his lyrics are much clearer and have less odd English than his predecessor ('Straw Coloured Corpse' anyone?), while his roar is visceral and works very well with the speedier sections of the album. He sounds a little like Tomas Lindberg at times (without the lisp) and there's someone else in the genre that he reminds me of, but I can't bring him to mind.

There's a slight difficulty at this point. Having described the general sound of the album, I find it tricky to mention separate songs or choose favourites. The two opening songs are the shortest and perhaps some of the strongest, with a good choice of riffs and great focus, particularly 'Religious Connection'. 'My Life to Kill' probably edges it for intensity and great riffs and is my current recommendation for a sample. 'Violated Relation' is the other notably different track, using more textured riffs and slowing the pace a notch. We get a few mid-paced chuggers and tremolo work that aims less for heaviness than for atmosphere and melodeath poignance. None of the songs are really weak, nor are any of them absolute belters, but we end up with a consistently good album treading ground that has been lightly covered. I happen to be a big fan of the style and Corporation 187 do a very satisfying job.

Their first full length was released more than four years ago and in 2002 Corporation 187 we're back with a new album. Hailing from Sweden, the (ONCE) homeland of the best melodic death metal bands, Corporation 187 don't play the usual melodic death metal stuff. They play more a mixture of thrash and a bit of melodic death metal and they are good at what they do.

Maybe a little unoriginal, but still fast and uncompromising thrash metal combined with lots of nice melodies and some sludgy breaks. Sometimes they remind me of the almighty At The Gates especially the fast parts but these five Swedish guys add more breakdowns and slower parts to the songs.

This shit kicks ass, especially the fast parts, they are a brutal punch in your face and the razor-sharp guitar riffs seem to cut your veins. The title song "Perfection In Pain" has some speedy passages but mostly they thrash through the song with recurring guitar riffs, in the middle of the song they slow it down with some harmonic melodies just to immediately start their thrashfest all over again.

That's what is awesome about this band and the whole album contains that musical line. As you can imagine the singer is screaming and shouting his lungs out, without any harmonic singing, no "pansy" vocals here!

They have a not so unique sound and you can compare them with bands like The Haunted or Carnal Forge. "Perfection In Pain" should not go unheard!

Perfection in Pain by Corporation 187 is an album that falls short of being anything special. While its easy to get caught up in the hooks and find yourself head banging ever so slightly, you’ll also find yourself starting to sing songs from The Haunted, At the Gates, Soilwork, Shadows Fall or In Flames. This CD is just another in a recent batch that do nothing to further metal or carve out a distinct sound for the band and just relies on tried and true songwriting techniques of the aforementioned bands.
None of the songs really stand out from the pack. Possibly the only exception is the opening track “Religious Connection”. The song starts fast and sets the pace for the CD but also shows you right away how much of this bands sound is derivative. To be honest this song may be the only standout track because it is simply the first one you hear instead of being the result of actual musical genius. I’m sure if switched with “Ghosts of Confusion” or “2nd Pain” then those would have been the songs being discussed. The songs are aggressive and fast enough, the work behind the songs are what’s lacking.
The vocals are your standard Haunted style thrash-scream. The drums rely too much on the double bass and don’t vary much from track to track and the guitar and bass ring distinctly of that good old “been there heard that” sound. The lyrics are just as cliché as the rest of the album. “It comes in like the tide/Now you’re biding your time/I’m the dark can you see?/We are one you and me” from Liquid Truth is a good example of the quality of their lyrics. Or should I say low quality. They also come dangerously close to being Emo/Gothish with “I have a dream where I must hang myself/Just throw myself into eternity/You wont catch my fall, you never will/You wont catch my fall, you never will” from My Life to Kill. What…do they want their fans to play violins and share feelings with them or do they want to thrash? A lot of metal lyrics are cliché and over the top but these seem downright whiney.
My overall impression of this band is that they are trying to ride on the coattails of bands like The Haunted to make up for their limited creative vision. If they tried to grow and progress I could actually see this band becoming one of the forerunners as opposed to a simple follower. Unfortunately I do not see that happening. Even if you are a fan of this style of music I’d leave it on the shelves. A truly forgettable album.