Fallen

For My Pain’s debut album Fallen was one record I was really looking forward to, then I got the album and was so disappointed.

The main problem I have with this album are Juha’s vocals; he always sounds flat, uninspired, and he gives no emotion. He makes the songs seem bland Everything seems out of place, the vocals don’t match the guitars or the drums or the keyboards or the bass. In most of the songs one thing always seems out of place, whether the vocals needs some tuning or the guitars need to be more pronounced. The only thing I like from all of the songs are the choruses, they’re catchy. But isn’t that what a chorus is supposed to be about? All the songs have boring mid-tempo and slow tempo, where it I find it lucky to find something to get you excited for the album.

There are good songs on the album; my favorites are Rapture of the Lust, Dear Carniwhore, My Wound Is Deeper Than Yours, and Dancer in the Dark. The production on these songs is superb and every element of the song feels like they are meant to be together. The female vocals on songs like Dancer in the Dark are nice touches and complement Juha’s voice. They may be the only vocals I like on this album. I also found Fallen to be pretty well produced.

Overall, I think this cd was recorded by a bunch of guys with a little of time, who want more money, and want to make this money with another band. I think all the members sound better in their main group and For My Pain is a band to get a couple of more bucks. I only suggest this record for people who really love gothic metal and Juha’s voice.

In a time when gothic metal has become quite popular, For My Pain emerges as a band formed by members of other bands such as Nightwish and Eternal Tears of Sorrow. In contrast to those two bands For my Pain has a typical standard gothic metal style similar to Entwine, Poisonblack, Charon, To Die For and perhaps even early HIM. Musically, this band does not play complicated stuff, they are focused in the melody, harmony and feeling, not exactly in trying to show their skills as advanced technique musicians and I would never recommend this album to a typical metalhead.

The album is not dynamic or fast at all, especially because they try to have a depressed sound without trying to exaggerate. The guitarists use plenty of distorted palm muted riffing, nothing complicated to do and the drums seem to be simple too, they rarely even use double bass. Despite this simplicities, their melancholic lyrics are quite catchy with deep down toned male vocals and excellent atmospheric sounds, usually the atmospheric keyboards try to go along with the guitars and I quite enjoyed it.

In my personal opinion “Autumn Harmony” is the best song of the album but I have seen how other people seem to enjoy songs like “Dancer in the Dark”, “Queen Misery”, and “Rapture of the Lust”; as a matter of fact “Rapture of the lust” is the most dynamic song of the album. With this said I can simply recommend this album to fans of bands like HIM, Entwine, Charon; In my personal opinion I prefer For My Pain over those bands.

I first took notice of For My Pain... because of Tuomas from Nightwish. Once again his keyboard work is great. He uses the right effects and melodies to create an excellent atmosphere that usually acompanies gothic metal. The vocals are another great touch in the mood. The lyrics are delivered beautifully and touchingly to your ears. The only problem with this album is that each song only has one shining point to catch your attention. The chorus; but I guess that is what commercial gothic metal is all about. The over-all song structure is quite boring and repeatitive. After the first three songs there isn't much left to discover.

The opening track "My Wound Is Deeper Than Yours", first off, has a horrible name. I'm sorry but it is really cliche. This could quite possibly be the only song that the guitar work out shines the keyboards. The melody Tuomas uses is basic and uninspired. It sounds like he could be playing it with the idea of not even wanting to be in the same recording studio. Luckly the riff during the verses really saves his ass and so does the chorus. Right away the vocals display exactly what to expect for the length of the album.

The second track, "Dancer In The Dark", is probably the catchest. You will be whistling the chorus before the song is over. It starts off with a famos Tuomas keyboard melody which could arguably be the best one on the entire album. And thus starts the power of keyboard over guitars. The guitar beats along like it fills in because it has to be present in order to be a metal band. The female vocals are delivered as perfectly as the male vocals. Both fit the mood perfectly, the lyrics well written. The only notable thing about the guitaring is the break at 2:00 till 2:39 which could be described as a "long drawn out solo". It sounds good and almost makes up for the lack of decent guitaring throughout the rest of the song. And I hope you like the chorus because you'll be hearing it too often during the 3:44 of the song.

"Queen Misery" could quite possibly be the mellowest track on the album without intending to be. It starts off quite slow with some bland clean tone guitars. The song speads up slightly and around 0:55 but is slowly down again during the verse (drums and bass). The male vocals are very good here, they have to be it's the only thing carrying the song so far. The melody used during the chorus is another you will be whistling along before the song is over. It's beautiful, it's sad, it works. After the first chorus comes an almost-heavy riff. It chugs along into another slow verse and finally with the chorus again.

"Sea of Emotions" continues the mellow verses. The guitar slowly chugs along in the background while the keyboards easily stand out. Could this song be more mellow than the last? Sadly it is! Having just sat through 5:22 of mellow gothic metal it could be very tempting to skip to the next track. Especially with the half decent opening tracks. The line goes "I promise you nothing" and that is about what you get from this song. Good if you play it as background music but that is about it.

Finally! Some guitar leads! "Rature of Lust" starts off with a great guitar lead that eventually becomes the sung chorus as well. For the first time on the album the keyboard isn't dominating over the guitars. Well, that is until you get to the verse. The guitar goes back into chugging mode. Luckly there is more life to the vocals. The chorus is great. The guitars lead right along with the vocals and the keyboards are used to add the much needed for any gothic metal atmosphere. The solo in this song really stands out as my favorite. It works well with the song and isn't drawn out. Actually I almost wish it was longer.

"Broken Days" opens up with a great piano melody. The piano is used throughout the song but not nearly enough as you would like it to be. What could have been an excellent song falls to the same doom as the rest of the songs. They follow the same song structure that became boring 12 minutes into the album. Besides the piano that appears every so often... You've heard this song before. By the time the song is over it's quite possible that you'll be tired of hearing that same piano melody used over and over. So much for that attempt. Move on to the next attempt to keep your attention.

"Dear Carniwhore". Interesting name I must say. It starts off with clean tone guitars. But once again falls to the guitar chugging + basic drum beat plague that fills the rest of the album. The name of the song is the only interesting part.

"Bed of Dead Leaves". I like the name. It sounds very... Gothic. Anyways, the verses are plagued with the basic drumming and guitar chugging. Plain and simple, boring. Even the keyboarding has become dull from here on out. There are moments of hope that get crushed by that commercial-gothic structure that every song apparently needs. This is quite possibly the slowest song on the album and most boring.

"Autumn Harmony" picks up the pace a little bit. Luckly the vocals are still strong and inspired or else there would have been nothing left for the album. The chorus is beautiful. The lyrics are average but they work well with the atmosphere that has been created. The only problem is that your inspired to skip the rest of the song before it is even half over. And if it wasn't for that catchy chorus, I would have changed it by now. It is really the only thing that holds these songs together now.

Ahhh! Finally. The last track! "Tomorrow Is Closed Gate (Dead For So Long)". Slow and uninspired. This time there is nothing to the song. The chorus isn't even there to grab your intention. It sounds as though even the vocalist is tired of these songs.

As much as I enjoyed the vocals at the beginning of the album, I feel as though I don't need to ever listen to it again. The same tone used for the last 4 songs is now embedded in my head. I'm affraid I'll listen to some black metal now and still hear this guy singing.

Don't get me wrong, I love gothic metal. It is only acts like this that make me wish there were sub-genres within the sub-genre. In the wake of HIM, Charon and other gothic metal acts gone some-what commercial (Or started commercial, who knows) this isn't seen as a suprise. I can listen to it, but not with headphones. I have to be doing something where I don't want to be in complete silence. If I want to LISTEN to gothic metal (and not just have it in the background) I would go with something much much better.