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Cycle Of Pain was BLS bassist John JD DeServio's first band, and a band he kept alive since his teenage days. Now more then 2 decades later he and his mates recorded the self-titled debut album. The guys were inspired by Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath to start a band.
The opener is called 5 and it's heavy, riff-based and Gregg Locascio's vocals remind me a bit of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell.... Dead Man Walking shows references to Zakk Wylde, but that's no surprise. At 14 Devils the vocals are distorted at the beginning, another tune which has a dash of early Soundgarden in it - and some Black Label Society. At M they give it an industrial edge, but the song is a roller coaster ride. with Babe the Wylde sound is back, but it's more a bluesy heavy rocker then a real metal tune. With Do My Work they present a crossover tune. And somehow it doesn't fit in - at least for me. It ain't a bad track, but out of place... Even if towards the end BLS shows through again. One of the highlights is the melancholy I See Heaven! A very cool balladesque rock tune with a slight symphonic edge due to a sad violin melody. With Cycle Of Pain they offer a heavy riffs, pounding drums and extreme vocals... A mix of tribal drums, alternative metal and mean screams on top of melodic clean vocals. An disturbing mix, but also fascinating. Great guitar solo!
Cycle Of Pain have several guests on the album, but unfortunately I have no information about who's joining them at which track. It seems that the songs been written over a longer period, so the album has no homogenous sound. It's still a good album, but needs some open-minded metal head as it offers so many different sounds.
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