PORTRAYAL OF GUILT Let Pain Be Your Guide

HOLY ROAR/GILEAD MEDIA

Basement tortures from the Austin, Texas killing grounds

Hailing from the same state as the infamous, antagonist of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this hardcore quartet might be accused of drawing some grotesque inspiration. Recorded in a basement (yup…) over just 48 hours, Let Pain… writhes with atmospheric twists and turns. The bulk of the album offers a familiar level of tight animosity topped with the harrowing, spinetingling screeches from Matt King. Moments of reprieve arise in the album’s macabre exploration of sound, with layers of distortion peeled back to reveal much darker levels of tension – toying with emotions almost as a horror movie would. The Texan axegrinders may have missed the boon of a Halloween release, but their debut full-length is enjoyably unsettling nonetheless.

FOR FANS OF: The Dillinger Escape Plan, Suicide Silence, Cattle Decapitation

LUKE MILNE