Painful Memories



2006 - Memorial To Suffering

Reviews:

My Last Chapter
(march 2007)
(9.5/10)

Right from the first couple of seconds of this album it’s clear that we’re dealing with funeral doom metal, and after a few minutes it’s clear that we’re dealing with some kick-fucking-arse doom metal! This is actually a re-release of the bands ?96 demo, and I would never have guessed this to be a demo. The sheer competence and amazing sound would have made me guess that it might be the third album of a well-established act, and definitely not a debut demo released during the same year as the bands creation. Now don’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of Painful Memories before, I hadn’t until I got this promo. They only released two demos and then split up, which is definitely unfortunate considering the brutality of this album.
Music wise I’d say this falls somewhere in between Mournful Congregation and Mourning Beloveth, and considering those are two of my favourite doom metal bands that’s not a bad comparison. Heavy, slow and depressed doom with some amazing melodies spicing things up. The powerful, deep growls delivers the misanthropic, suicidal lyrics with great perfection. And some bits of the lyrics are just mind-blowingly powerful in its simplicity, like for instance why do we roam about the earth possessed by vain hopes of changes? Death is inevitable (from track two, Why?). To me that says it all. No matter if you own the old demo or not this is an essential buy as it contains a previously unreleased live video as well. Without a doubt one of the best albums I’ve heard in the genre!

Metal Crypt
(march 2007)
(3.5/5)

This is a re-pressing of the 1996 demo of Russian Doom band Painful Memories, who put out a demo in 1996, then 1997, and then apparently broke up some time before they ever went anywhere. Ironically, Solitude Prod. Has picked this up 10 years after the fact and released it as a CD. I'd like to say it's brilliant, but actually it's just decent.

Painful Memories play a rather mellow brand of Doom/Death with more melody than despair. There are obvious similarities to the giants of the day: Anathema, My Dying Bride, and Paradise Lost, and actually, in my jaundiced view this is far better than anything MDB ever put out. But then I have never liked MDB very much, so that's damning with faint praise. This is a solid album, and fans of the style will find a lot to like, though not much they have not heard before. The production is quite good for a demo, though not as heavy as I would like. The songs are all long, and they all sound pretty much alike. The vocals are the expected growl, and the melodies are suitably gloomy.

This is an entertaining if not arresting disc of vintage Doom/Death from the early days of the style, and while it is good for what it is, it is hardly lost classic material. If you love Doom/Death this will be your thing, but don't expect too much from it.


Reviewed by: Sargon the Terrible

Live 4 Metal Reviews
(march 2007)

I have had some right rare finds to review since the beginning of my tenure with the good people at Live4metal.com, but with this I feel like the ultimate metal archaeologist. Talk about a rare gem - this really is a forgotten masterpiece, and you need to know that right off the bat. You don't know Painful Memories (the band), I would almost wager my monthly income on it. The only real chance that you'll have heard of them will be if you are related to one of the band members - and given that Painful Memories are from Russia, the chances of that happening are about a zillion to one, on an English speaking website!
This, it transpires, is a demo MCD recorded in 1996, and yet only re-issued this year after having been mastered last year. In terms of sound though, this is squarely rooted, to my ears at least, in the glory years of about 1993-1994. This is some heftily majestic death influenced doom metal, which most strongly brings to mind "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" era Amorphis, minus the cod-folk influences, and with the added benefit of some absolutely inspired guitar melodies. In terms of the guitar sound, elephant heavy monolithic riffs cascade headlong into the ear, while crystal clear lead work is interlaced delicately over the top like the veritable icing on the cake. This is a mostly mid paced delicacy, with some tasteful drum work and pounding (if a little unspectacular) bass work. The vocals are clear but gruff and growled, complimenting the music perfectly.
The song writing had clearly had some attention lavished on it, and the music sounds like the very best possible influences have been gained from My Dying Bride in places, but more often than not more particularly in the atmosphere and guitar sound of Greg Mackintosh from Paradise Lost in his "Icon" phase. Of course, given the age of the release, it might sound particularly reminiscent of the era to some ears, but to my mind, this has aged remarkably well, and can hang its head high when compared to many modern releases. The mastering job, I suspect, has done a great deal to aid the initial production, and as a consequence the sound is clear, heavy and allows plenty of room for the music to "breathe". I have to say that had this enjoyed a wider audience at the time of its conception, Painful Memories may have gone on to some considerable critical aplomb. As it is, I think that they're probably destined to remain a curious footnote in the annals of history - which is at turns a shame and a boon. A shame because they will probably never reap the rewards that this excellent album deserves, but a boon as owning this will give you bragging rights when you play it to your metal loving chums. Wonderful stuff, all in all.


Reviewed by: Chris Davison

Power Play Records
(february 2007)
(7.8/10)

The second release from Solitude Productions is actually a re-release of the only demo that Paiful Memories had released back in 1996 with the addition of a video clip and of course a remastered sound.

Even if this release is almost ten years old, the production and the sound are in high levels and you can hear clearly all the things that the band included ten years ago.

Musically Painful Memories walks in the doom / death metal paths with their personal touch inside their well worked compositions. Actually Painful Memories wrote a very good demo back then and they have some quality in their music.

I am very pleased that i had the chance to hear this work from this band, even if now they have split up.


Reviewed by: Antonis Maglaras

Harm
(january 2007)

Tales Of Dark is another band of Solitude Productions and as their labelmates Painful Memories they are into doom/death metal too. Based on the sound of My Dying Bride they present us an interesting release.

The use of clean, growl and female vocals gives a diversity to their sound. They have some very good melancholic riffs and their songs have a very good structure. The steady rhythm section helps them a lot and the production is also very good. In their fast parts with male vocals they sound like My Dying Bride but when they use female vocals they remind of The Gathering in their early albums.

"Fragile Monuments" is a very good album (both musically and lyrically) and i am sure you will enjoy it. I remember myself wondering one year ago why there are no many doom/death metal bands around but I now see there is a growing scene in Russia and ex-Yugoslavia with many promising bands. This is very good and we have to support these bands. They deserve it. Well done guys!


Reviewed by: Bleeding

Burning Black
(january 2007)

This album is nothing less than the re release version of this Russian band first demo recorded back in 1996, this work was the first and only one of their extremely short carrier (I have heard about a supposed second nameless demo… but nothing concrete). A simple and straight Doom/Death Metal is what this band delivers here. A pretty light musicianship, clearly focused in create melancholic and sorrowful melodies, leaves heaviness and density in a second place, while the intense, dark and deep growling vocals are definitely the most obscure, raw element of the entire disc and definitely the undisputable highlight. The guitar lines delineates the music with its agonizing mood, the drumming is, as you surely expect, slow, simple but effective. The bass work becomes unexpectedly outlined in tracks such “The Weeping of Unborn Children” or “Rover of Sin” where provides profundity, heaviness, obscurity and low vibe to the whole music. Personally my favourite track is the last one, “No One Remains”, cause its reflex certain doses of originality in its mid pace tempos and mysterious melodies, but even this track sounds quite feelingless. A remarkable detail is that Painful Memories do not used keyboards, special effects or any kind of clich?, resulting in a pretty solid piece of Doom Metal, but, unfortunately, pretty standard too, anyway, do not forget this work was recorded a little more than ten years ago. “Memorial To Suffering” consists in six tracks clocked at 51 minutes plus a bonus live video from “In My Tomb”; a really solid version, that includes even a contrabassist on stage, I must say this version inevitably reminded my the sound of My Dying Bride… This work is not a must, but it’s far from being a bad album either, being completely recommendable for unadorned, straight Doom/Death Metal diehards…

Reviewed by: AP

Metal Only
(december 2006)

Even though the Russian death/doom metal band PAINFUL MEMORIES only released one demo 10 years ago and then split up, the band seems to have reach a large enough audience to now get this demo re-released. The title, “Memorial To Suffering” hasn\'t changed, but the song material has been re-mastered and new cover art has also been made in connection to this re-release. As a bonus you\'ll also find a previously unreleased live video for the song “In My Tomb”.

What the listener will find on “Memorial To Suffering” is very traditional death/doom metal with a low tempo, quite simple guitar play and very deep and dark growls, all to create a pitch black atmosphere stuffed with as much misery and melancholia as possible. The music feels also very honest since no polishing or covering fancy stuff has been introduced to the music, but instead you are faced with an uncompromising and unromantizising death/doom without neither keyboards or other effects. What impresses me the most is however how strong the song material is, especially when considering that this is the bands first and only release. Apparently these guys knew what they were doing since the album contains six very evenly strong songs on a high level of quality. Although there aren\'t any real stand out tracks when it comes to the quality, the album becomes very convincing when seen as a whole and if you would like to pick out the best examples of the bands strength I would go with “Rover Of Sin” and “In My Tomb”, both really good songs. How much the sound differs from the original material is beyond my knowledge, but at least everything turns out fine on this re-release and together with the generally strong song material the end result is a really good one. Sure, you shall not expect anything extraordinary or world turning, but at least the album is stable and should not leave any death/doom fan disappointed.

It\'s a real shame that PAINFUL MEMORIES ceased to exist some time after the original release of “Memorial To Suffering”, since this turns out to be a really good album and it would have been interesting to hear a follow up. Now we just have to be satisfied with this re-release and that\'s no shame either. Recommended!

Reviewed by: Janne

Chronicles Of Chaos
(december 2006)
(8/10)

_Memorial to Suffering_ is yet another demo re-release, this time the sole release by these Russian doomsters some ten years ago. Many deserve to remain buried within the mists of time, but this one deserved a wider audience, although not quite a must-have.
The motif for this album is disarmingly simple: catchy yet melodic leads played in conjunction with slow yet heavy rhythms and accompanied by some guttural vocals, while tempo changes and varied rhythms prevent boredom from setting in. This is not the most complex template, nor is it the most original, but it works. It cannot be denied that this a depressing and mournful album, but it unfortunately lacks the emotional intensity that permeates the work of the masters (for example Katatonia's _Dance of December Souls_ or My Dying Bride's _Turn Loose the Swans_) and which would herald its entry into the doom metal classic pantheon.

Lyrics are sung in English, although it is broken and sounds unintentionally comical at times. But the band photos do more damage to their image then their command of a foreign language. Their sepia toned, artificially aged photos may have been an inspired touch, but band members wearing white sneakers and baseball caps dilute the effect considerably.

If Painful Memories had not broken up, they could very well have emerged as the Slavic response to the British doom/death trinity.

Reviewed by: Quentin Kalis

Morbid Tales
(november 2006)

Painful Memories, hmmmmm.. I wonder what it could be? Either funeral doom, or emo. Well, you folks guessed it right! This is Russian doom! Although, if you just read the lyrics, you could probably mistaken it for the other. This is a bit more metal than most typical funeral doom bands, but it has the annoying death metal vocals, so I don t really like it. It s just not my thing! Plus, the melodies are just too depressing The CD should have come with a gun as a promo gift or something. (A few riffs are really cool though, like in the middle of the song In my Tomb , or the intro to The Weeping of Unborn Children ) Something that got me a bit confused though, this album was actually a demo recorded in 1996, but got re-mastered and released in 2006)

Reviewed by: Satannick

Tartarean Desire
(november 2006)
(7/10)

Painful Memories was a Russian band whose “Memorial To Suffering” demo made a certain impact when it was released ten years ago. The doomsters guys running Solitude Productions have managed to re-release it on CD to deliver the goods and provide a proper edition to that worthwhile album; namely, a remastering and the addition of a videoclip. Honestly the first listenings didn?t tell me anything unique. Further doses started to whisper something into me. If not a masterpiece in a strict sense, we?re before a quite interesting album, especially taking into account it?s been ten years since these songs saw the light. Doom-death metal with plenty of tempo changes, could be a definition of this work. Far from matching the intensity of bands like Opeth, the sound of these guys was varied and enjoyable, far from monotony many doom bands usually wield in every song. Variety is achieved without accoustic guitars nor clean vocals; it?s rather based on tempos and rhythms without leaving the traditional doom-death soundscapes. The songmaking is a bit sparse and the melodies are somewhat weak, in the sense most of the riffs are too similar: nevertheless, the album as a whole is not bad at all, since Painful Memories are skilled musicians and the songs are very correct. The band only released this demo and are actually disbanded. Who knows what could have happened if they kept up their course making music? Speculations to the trashbin; right here, right now, this is the only legacy left by this band and that?s the only truth.

Reviewed by: Fjordi