Look at that fucking cover art. Look at it! The dog! The chains! The guy with the ski mask and baseball bat! The car! The font! The contrast! The many incomprehensible design decisions! It's so ugly! So ugly, in fact, that it might double back around to being beautiful! In any case, it's exactly how you want a new Pain Of Truth album to look.
Pain Of Truth make ugly music. The young Long Island hardcore band got started during the pandemic, and they immediately distilled the classic swaggering, metallic NYHC style down to its core elements. They'd already put out a few records of elementally satisfying face-punch music before they played their first live show, and they became a subcultural sensation. Since then, Pain Of Truth have become a locked-in touring machine. Their stupendously ignorant self-titled debut Not Through Blood had guests from big hardcore songs on every songs, sometimes multiple guys at once, and it was one of my favorite hardcore albums of 2023. Last year, they had a split with Sunami. Now, Pain Of Truth are back with another LP.
It looks like Pain Of Truth are switching things up on their upcoming self-titled sophomore album. (It's always weird when bands go self-titled for the second album, but I'm not telling these guys what to do.) After recording Not Through Blood with Weekend Nachos' Andy Nelson, Pain Of Truth made this one with the Fit For An Autopsy/End guitarist Will Putney, who tends to specialize in more commercial metalcore styles. Putney has produced bands like Knocked Looes and Vein, and he got a Grammy nomination for his work with Body Count. Also, after inviting so many guests on their last album. Pain Of Truth made this one J. Cole-style — no features.
But that doesn't mean Pain Of Truth are a full-on pro-core situation, if their new single "Unforgiven" is any indication. "Unforgiven" sounds undeniably cleaner than the band's past music, and its chorus flirts with the notion of melody, but this is still elemental, guttural fuck-you-up music with multiple severe breakdowns. Below, check out the Luis Hernandez-directed "Unforgiven" videos, the Pain Of Truth tracklist, and the band's tour dates.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Obliteration"
02 "Done For"
03 "Stranded"
04 "This Hatred"
05 "Unforgiven"
06 "Chinatown, NY"
07 "Fed By Fear"
08 "Beyond The Damage"
09 "Filth In Your Head"
10 "Web Of Lies"
11 "Destroy It All"
TOUR DATES:
7/22 - Los Angeles, CA @ Proyecto *
7/23 - Oxnard, CA @ Oxnard Masonic Temple *
7/24 - Fullerton, CA @ Programme
7/25 - Long Beach, CA @ Vans Warped Tour
9/19 - Tokyo, Japan @ Bloodaxe Festival
10/10 - Birmingham, AL @ Furnace Fest
10/24 - Fort Worth, TX @ Sick New World
11/08 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Flyover Fest
11/14-15 - Orlando, FL @ Vans Warped Tour
* with Bloodshed
Pain Of Truth is out 9/25 on DAZE. Pre-order it here.
