blackstar40's Full Review: A Different Kind of Pain * by Cold
So you thought Staind were depressed? Wait until you check out these guys. And oboy, how they must hate being likened non-stop to their prominent musical relative, but listen to the Jacksonville-based group’s fourth album A Different Kind Of Pain and you’ll instantly understand what a fair comparison that is.
Unlike each and every one of their previous albums, though, this one seems a little more quietly anxious and contemplating. You won’t see a flicker of a smile from lead singer Scooter Ward on these eleven tracks – they’re all intensively serious entries injected with the heartache and tragedy this positively morbid quintet had to go through in the recording process, during which the album underwent continuous name changes, from And The Sad Song Lives On to Anatomy Of A Tidal Wave (thank goodness they ditched that one) and The Calm That Killed The Storm before they settled on it’s final, current title. And believe you me, there’s plenty of pain, and the real thing, not imaginary like it was on the group’s debut and sophomore. The frontman alone had to cope with being walked out on by his fiancee, his band falling apart in front of him, his former label turning hostile and his sister’s prolonged battle with cancer, as she is obviously a pillar of strength and tower of inspiration. His reaction to this has been develop a close affinity to, of all things, the ocean, and on the album’s title track you’ll find a whole chorus devoted to him feeling ‘kinda like the waves.’ Heck, he even thanks the ocean in the liner note credits.
But with two of Cold’s previous guitarists abandoning Ward’s vague ponderous themes for, uh, better things, the reformed members ensure one thing hasn’t changed. Like on the first two outings (but not the exception Year Of The Spider), A Different Kind of Pain favors bleak, brutal guitar parts that don’t bother with anything more complicated than one note riffs and that’s purpose is to give the melody one hell of a drive. Thus, you won’t find this release lagging in tempo – it’s weighted instead with heavy soulbearing which is completely unrecognizable from the malicious alt metal odes from five years ago, and an approach rather equivalent to that on their brother’s 14 Shades of Grey – only Ward’s vocals pull more of a baritone. It even drops every last curse word for this session of mental exploration.
‘Back Home’ is the ‘Cold style’ opener – brooding, dark and most importantly dramatic, with the guitar part weaving tension into Ward’s apprehension and setting the standard for some of the album’s later tracks, including the leadoff single ‘Happens All The Time,’ the video clip having the band walking on a grey-skied beach dressed like gothic satanists as guitars blaze in the intro and Scooter Ward moroses about his misfortunate love life.
A good deal of the remainder, however, has that inescapable ‘Cold problem’ – most of the material is unfocused and lacks a decent punch, even freshly employed piano struggling to aid Ward, who seems more concerned with soul-searching than working up a hook to make these mid-tempo numbers stick. On account of his steadfast fans, many of which seem just as emotionally troubled as he is, A Different Kind of Pain acts as an invitation to come, share his pain – but all others just wonder helplessly which obsesser the next song is a shout out to. ‘We’re all a part in God’s song’ he declares on the 8th ‘God’s Song,’ fuelled by an anticipating piano descent.
Ward’s voice is handsome, as is assured in the beauty of the title track and ‘Tell Me Why,’ apologetic ballads done up in elegance that sound almost a cross between Creed and Elton John, but there’s no lyrical booklet included to follow his heart-on-sleeve words when things get messy. But undoubtedly, most may simply dismiss this, considering the whole quantity by far too emotional and too dynamically quiet to satisfy their bubbling testosterone.
So A Different Kind of Pain is a lot like self-therapy in some ways, wandered aloud to give listeners the opportunity to lap up the meaningful lyrical comments or turn their noses up and leave Ward’s scars to heal of their own devices before coming back and giving Cold another chance. But in the end, it’s your choice – stick with straight psychiatry, or pay about the same to purchase A Different Kind Of Pain – after all, there’s only a couple of maned guitarists and a few notes that separate that separate the two, and if you’re up for forty minutes on a couch examining yourself courtesy of Scooter Ward, and a handful of useful tips about what to do when you’re dying (‘When Heaven’s Not Far Away’) and when you’re, as the cliche goes, high ‘n’ dry (‘When Angels Fly Away’), then go for it.
And there’s no definite conclusion arrived at, either, meaning the public can expect more of the same in years to come.
Track List [x indicates standout track]
1. Back Home [x]
2. Feel It In Your Heart
3. Anatomy Of A Tidal Wave
4. A Different Kind of Pain [x]
5. Another Pill
6. Happens All The Time [x]
7. When Heaven's Not Far Away
8. God's Song
9. When Angel's Fly Away
10. Tell Me Why
11. Ocean
Similar Artists: Staind, Earshot, Stone Sour
Heavy: Not anymore
Swearing: Ditto
For Cold, music is... Scooter pauses. It s real. It s medicine. It s therapy. And I think anybody, no matter what age you are, can be affected by it. ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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