Band:	Painstruck
Album:	A Whole New Perception
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	2002

01. A Whole New Perception
02. Painstruck
03. Pain Beyond
04. In Us You Live
05. Hate Is The Word That Speaks The Truth
06. We Are One Step Ahead
07. Believe The Word
08. Pierce The Wing
09. F.P.R.S.
10. Send In The Crows
11. Letting All Out
12. Breathe In, Killing Time
13. Tons Of Chances

'A whole new perception is not a real album ; it is a kind of long EP, with demos and tracks previously unreleased bonus tracks. All of them are not interesting, but on the whole, this album is worth listening.
Painstruck mixes several influences, from thrash to alternative, without forgetting hardcore, hard rock and tribal sounds. Actually, with this mix, instead of making something inaudible, Painstruck has created its own sound, its own way, even if they have not completely digested all their influences: in this way, 'A whole new perception' really reminds in turn of Machine Head, 'Roots' and 'Against' of Sepultura [the most obvious influence], and even sometimes Killswitch Engage or the hardcorers of Madball. But although it sometimes sounds like pure plagiarism, the Painstruck guys have tried to bring something more to their music: thus, with the same creative spirit as Sepultura a few years ago, they have integrated tribal rhythms and percussions to their music. Furthermore, instead of writing heavy and low-paced riffs, that could have sounded typically death or thrashy, they, seem, on this plan, to have been marvelled by rock'n'roll and the old wave of hard rock bands: the riffs are catchy, sounding almost joyful, and they are played at full speed. Only sometimes Painstruck falls into the inevitable commonplace of the 'headbanger riff', but anyway, this is agreeable.
In my opinion, except that all the songs do not have the same quality, the problem comes from the production. On a general plan, I find the guitar sound not aggressive enough, it is really flat, the problem being that it actually sounds rock'n'roll, and for this style, it is quite average. To have an idea, imagine Sepultura with AC DC's sound... A bit of aggression would have been welcome. But moreover, the production differs on every song; so, if on a large part of the album, the overall sound is good [except, as I said before, the guitar sound] on some tracks, it sounds like a grind demo recorded in a garage. I remember two or three songs that have given me earaches...
But these little failures have to be overcome, if you want to discover a good band, but not an exceptional one. You are fan of Sepultura and Machine Head? Try Painstruck.