LA’s Terror, a band who’ve more than earned their right to become a household name, recently re-teamed up with former bandmate Todd Jones and headed into the studio to write and record their eighth full length album. Why’s the addition of a former bandmate so important you ask? Well, once Jones departed Terror, he went on to form the band Nails who again earned their own reputations one way or another and have an undeniably distinct sound of their own. Terror’s Pain Into Power see’s the addition of Jones reinvigorate and reignite the flame under a band that for some, had appeared to have begun to stagnate.
Kicking the record off is title track ‘Pain Into Power’, 53 seconds of rip-roaring rage, setting a new, darker tone for the record. The band claimed their approach to writing the album was full-on aggression, for its full – admittedly short – run. Despite Jones’ departure, Terror managed to stay the course and continued putting out hard-hitting, in-your-face hardcore, despite it threatening to grow stale. This time, they wanted to make sure the fury continued unabated, never letting up or stagnating.
And let up it does not. With a total run time of just 18 minutes, Pain Into Power is a showcase of pure, unfiltered, primal aggression. Though the album still slips comfortably into the Terror catalogue it certainly stands out amongst the rest. Though the overall tone of the record is considerably darker and heavier than previous efforts, it’s also laden with big, often contrasting, groovy riffs that are sure to go down a storm in a live setting. ‘On The Verge of Violence’ springs to mind, with hooks so catchy its reminiscent of their 2010 release Keepers Of The Faith conjuring up images of overfilled sweatbox venues with more finger pointing, back-of-t-shirt photo opportunities than you can shake a stick at.
Other stand out moments on the album come in the form of ‘Unashamed’, a classic ode to Vogel’s lifelong devotion to hardcore and ‘Can’t Help But Hate’ which both feature guest vocalists. The former with contributions from Year Of The Knife’s Madison Watkins and Initiate’s Crystal Pak. The latter however, and rather unexpectedly, features the guttural resonances of Cannibal Corpse’s George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. Something of a wildcard that oddly works in Terror’s favour, further confirming their appreciation for faces both new and old within the aggressive music scene. Last but certainly not least, ‘The Hardest Truth’ which also features Todd Jones’ vocal presence and album closer ‘Prepare For The Worst’ see the band come full circle, taking things back to where they set out from two decades ago.
Ferocious, hard-hitting, in-your-face rage-spitting hardcore that even after twenty years, shows no signs of reeling it in for even a moment, Pain Into Power is a restless effort and will surely serve as yet another defining moment in Terror’s well established legacy.