Born From Pain are a metalcore outfit but as far as it goes I think the genre label does them a disservice; I'm not much of a fan of metalcore but Born From Pain's “War” is definitely one of the better albums I've heard from the genre. It's more bottom-heavy than, say, the hardcore band Killswitch Engage and I'd say it's closer to Mastodon or even Amon Amarth although not quite in the same league, and there's some Slayer and Obituary in there too.

There's lots of material to get your teeth into: riffs and hooks coming out of your ears, some nice breakdowns in “Behind Enemy Lines” and “The War Is On”, some fast thrashy delivery again in “Behind Enemy Lines” and also “Scorched Earth”, some slow chuggage “Burn Me Fighting” and “The War Is On”, and a bit of melody here and there all packaged up in decent composition. I'd prefer proper death metal vocals as I'm not keen on the hardcore style, especially with the choruses on this album. They could be a lot worse though and of the guest vocals I particularly like Jan Chris from Gorefest's vocal contribution on “Crusader”.

Overall each track contributes to a high quality album, with favourites for me beginning to emerge in “The War Is On” and “Crusader”, although I wasn't so keen on some of the faster material. That said though, “War” is a smooth ride - give it a listen and have a pleasant journey!

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Review by Amanda Hyne

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