Album Review: Pain - I Am
Reviewed by Rick Eaglestone
One of the most multi-faceted and prolific names in the scene Peter Tägtgren brings back Pain after eight years with the eagerly anticipated studio album I Am
I distinctly remember hearing Pain for the first time – I had dropped off to sleep in my tent a Wacken Open Air in 2002 and I heard Elenor Rigby, at first I thought it was the Godhead cover version but It had a slightly more electronic feel to it, the next track fully got my attention as the start of it was really catchy – this turned out to be Shut Your Mouth. The next morning, I purchased the album Nothing Remains The Same which I played a lot when I got home. It was then I was shown the video to the track had me rushing to by the album and well the rest is history – Pain is a band that been on regular rotation for the last two decades.
The albums opener, I Just Dropped By (to say goodbye) makes an immediate head spinning impact and fortunately that air of familiarity, this is followed by an almost post punk filled Don’t Wake The Dead which has some wonderful atmospheric tones.
The overspill of influences run into Go With The Flow before for me the quintessential pain appears on easily my highlight track Not For Sale really giving off that nostalgic flair. Bringing in the dominate basslines is Party In My Head which is paired well with the albums title track I Am, and it terms of the albums most diverse track that honour goes to Push The Pusher which lyrically is almost a battle cry of rebellion.
The New Norm & My Angel are final two tracks to feature Peter which the last one being the result of a bottle of wine being the catalyst to collaborate with French folk singer and tv anchor-women Cécile Siméone who Tägtgren met whilst on holiday in Paris.
Adding another dynamic is the creator’s son Sebestian joining the ranks of the band as their drummer and it would seem the apple does not fall too far from the tree as he wrote the music to both Revolution and Don’t Wake the Dead both of which are richly absorbing.
Tägtgren reflects “And what about the future anyway? Ask me again in eight years and there have been a few studio albums from different bands, a lot of gigs and something else. Yes, I am what "I Am"...".
For something that began as a one-man project it great to see other musicians brought into the fold and add a richer tone overall, but still able to constantly push genre boundaries, of course the latest album is well crafted and produced and once again highlights Tägtgren’s ever evolving versatility.
