Pain Relief are a 4 piece punk rock band from Quebec, Canada that formed in the early naughties around 2004. The band’s music is a mixture of 90’s melodic skatepunk and street punk which has earned them a loyal following. Pain Relief has played many shows over the years with bands like Adrenalized, Bigwig, COLORSFADE, FasterForward, Morgan, MUTE, Still Insane, The Brains, The Lab Ratz, The Mahones, Voice Of Addiction, We Outspoken, Wolfrik. The band’s last release was ‘Bring The Remedy‘ in 2015, so this fifth studio release has been a long wait for fans.
‘The King Has Fallen‘ EP came out on the 20th of March 2020. It has 7 tracks with a runtime of around 20 minutes. The first song is ‘What Is This Way?‘ (3:09), which was released as a single the month before on the 28th of February 2020. Its a great mixture of hardcore and melodic skatepunk. This song has a great guitar riff and the guitar solo also features that hook, the vocals in the chorus parts are full of melody and energy. The second track ‘Shut Them Down!‘ (2:58) is more of the same but the bass intro really shines a light on the great tone.
The title track ‘The King Has Fallen‘ (2:58) is an absolute cracker, the way the guitar and bass work together offers a glimpse at the technical proficiency of the artists on their instruments. This song has some of the best bass fills I’ve heard in ages and the chorus parts still maintain that melodic feel in the vocals while the energy of the music feels like its building.
The songwriting skills of this band are well developed and it really shows on track 4. ‘We’re No Pharmacists‘ (3:32) with its layered vocals offering up something that feels rooted in hardcore but still carries some melody. The breakdown in this song is the first time we hear the band offer up something ska flavoured and the way the guitar winds the song down near the end is great.
As the EP progresses the band nails more elements from different genres associated with punk rock. Track 5. ‘G.T.H.F.U.‘ (2:38) apparently stands for “Go To Hell Fuck You” and is pretty much just a great hardcore number as well as the shortest song on the EP. The guitar work and vocal harmonies in ‘Against The Wind‘ (3:08) are great. The final track ‘All My Life‘ (3:04) is such a great song with a bit of everything and the chorus vocal hook is so catchy, it really left me wanting more.
Pain Relief are Jean-Sébastien Roy – Drums & Vocals
Sébastien Grondin – Guitar & Vocals
Guillaume Boutin – Guitar & Vocals
Guillaume Mercier – Bass & Back Vocals
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/painreliefpunk/
Amazon Music Link
https://music.amazon.com/artists/B0032CYECS?tab=CATALOG
Apple Music Link
https://music.apple.com/bg/artist/pain-relief/348677515
Bandcamp Link
https://painrelief.bandcamp.com/
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lDg6MREixeGKCfcN4nmmiKb0Y0G0eASp0
