PAIN PRINCIPLE

The word is that Florida's PAIN PRINCIPLE have been hanging around the scene since 1993, having released two albums prior to this debut full-length, "Waiting for the Flies", on Blind Prophecy Records. The band plays a mix of modern thrash and traditional American metal, in the latter case at times recalling, in vague terms at least, PANTERA (particularly the vocals of Kevin "Bull" Bullock). While there are some slamming riffs/tempos and a whole lot of tough-guy attitude, the songwriting is a tad on the spotty side.

A handful of tracks go for an up-tempo thrashing approach, heavy on the double-bass and with melodic harmonizing, good examples being "Body Farm", "Martyr System", and "What the Dead Whisper". The metallic bluster heard is more than respectable, but the chorus melodies often fall into the so-so to nondescript range. The group does a pretty good job of changing up the arrangements on tracks like the mid-tempo "Behind the Broken" and the title track, the latter one of a handful of times that has Bullock introducing clean (not crooning) vocals into the mix. I was somewhat surprised when I realized that Erik Rutan was involved in the production ("collaboration" is the term used). The mix is fine, just not representative of Rutan's best work.

On the whole, "Waiting for the Flies" hits hard and keeps hitting, a few bumps along the way notwithstanding. If it is unadulterated American metal that you seek, then you could certainly do worse than "Waiting for the Flies". Something in the melodies and vocal patterns on several songs seems to be lacking though. It is one of those albums that seem like it should work better than it does. There is nothing to dislike per se and the manner in which PAIN PRINCIPLE clobbers the listener is pretty damn convincing, but I'll admit to being on the fence with this one. A borderline 6.