THE PROBLEM OF PAIN: PART 1

When I saw these guys on PA's Featured Artist section a long time ago, I'd figured I'd give them an honest try just to hear how they sounded. I happened to acquire THE PROBLEM WITH PAIN on a free download which is convenient for a cheapskate like myself. However, I had some trepidations about the album; since it was a free download, I was hoping that aspect didn't overshadow the music. Unfortunately, that seems to be the case.

I'll give these guys credit, the ''Overture'' isn't too bad. It's a little basic in structure, but it's got some good themes throughout. I wouldn't dub it ''metal'' or ''prog'' just yet, but it's very nice. The problem starts when the vocals come in, and they're like nails on a chalkboard to me. Seriously, I'm not too fond of them. To make matters worse, the songs don't have much variety to them. From track 2 on, every song sounds like the same Christian-garage-rock kind of thing to them and nothing else barring a playing with synths at the very end (but by that point I gave up trying).

I wouldn't call this the worst album I've heard, but it's one of the blandest. I just can't find a way to recommend this to prog fans, whether they're traditional medolic proggers or off-the-wall proggers or all those in between. To say the least, it's disappointing.