Lost in Pain - Gold Hunters

*yawn*

Well I've got a new pin in my Metal Globe it seems.  According to MA, Luxembourg has had a grand total of 86 metal bands throughout history, only 38 of which are currently active.  So it's pretty cool to know that roughly 1% of the country's metal fans are all in Lost in Pain.

Lost in Pain is some sort of Schrodinger's Metal Band, existing as both the nebulous blend of trad/thrash metal that Metallica made their trademark in the mid 80s and as the heavier, more meaty modern thrash of post-The Gathering Testament (a band who themselves have always been massively influenced by Metallica, of course), and whichever one they sound more like depends on which influence you're looking for.  It's like one of those optical illusions that looks like either a duck or a rabbit depending on which way you look at it.  Gold Hunters sounds like either Metallica or Testament depending on which way your ears are shifted.

That's not to say they're a total clone band of the two though.  Nah, they do indeed sound like their own band, but the songs themselves don't really stand out a whole lot.  There are moments here and there, sure, like the breakdown at the end of "A Word" or the pounding bass intro of "Rebellious Protestors", but for the most part this is just kind of a blur of white noise.  For a band that focuses more on riffs and intensity than melody or atmosphere, they kinda drop the ball by not really having all that many great riffs or intense moments.  It's nice that the album is short and doesn't really get an opportunity to truly become boring, but apart from a few cool groovy moments or totally punishing double bass sections, this just kinda fades like Mr. Meeseeks the instant it's over and does what it sets out to do.  I kinda struggle with what exactly to call this, because it's very "modern" in every sense of the word but doesn't really sound like what you'd consider "modern metal" to be.  The opening title track focuses on a very Lamb of God style main riff before transitioning to a fairly pleasant and radio friendly chorus that's reminiscent of Trivium, but it never really sounds like the more metalcore aspects of either of those bands either, instead touching on their 80s thrash influences without ever being an 80s thrash throwback itself.  The closest we ever truly get is the closer, "The Great Illusion", which is basically their "Dyer's Eve".

So yeah, despite what I've said, if pressed for a definitive answer, I'd say this errs more on the modern Testament side than anything else.  And that's fine, Testament has had a few great tracks since their resurgence, but Gold Hunters doesn't really do anything exciting on its own.  The gruff vocals and massive production sound great but they aren't utilized in an exciting way.  The sound is here, the aggression is here, but the songwriting and staying power is lacking.


RATING: 50%