TORMAN MAXT — The Problem of Pain (Part 1) (review)

TORMAN MAXT — The Problem of Pain (Part 1) album cover

Album · 2007 · Progressive Metal

2/5 · 2022-12-24
UMUR

"The Problem Of Pain: Part 1" is the third full-length studio album by US hard rock/heavy metal act Torman Maxt. The album was released (on CD) through Mars Hill Records in 2007. Upon release the album was also offered up as a free digital download from the band´s official site. After downloading the album for free on the bands official internet site I went and read lead singer/guitarist Tony Massaro´s blog. There he tells why Torman Maxt is giving away the album for free, but what caught my eye more than anything is that Tony doesn´t like Torman Maxt to be labelled Chrisian rock or metal. As he explains on the blog people who give labels like that almost always imply that the music is a second rate version of heavy metal or rock. Honestly though it is a bit hard though not to call the band Christian rock/heavy metal because the lyrics on this album are as extreme (in a Christian way) as the lyrics on any Satanic black or death metal album. So let´s make a compromise and call this Christian themed hard rock/soft heavy metal.

The music on the album is hard rock/soft heavy metal (with a progressie edge) which is generally highly Rush influenced. It´s especially the vocals by Tony Massaro which remind me of Geddy Lee (which is actually another thing Tony Massaro mentions on his blog with a humourous story). The music is very melodic and generally feature a positive spirit/atmosphere, except "Satan´s First Song" and "Satan´s Second Song", which are darker in mood and also slightly more hard edged musically. The music is decent enough, but it´s nothing groundbreaking or above the standard quality for the genre. To me personally the lyrics have a tendency to ruin the listening experience. It´s not that I can´t tolerate Christian themed lyrics (I am for example a huge fan of Saviour Machine), but lyric lines like "Holy, Holy Lord" and "What Would Make You Pray to a God" are a bit hard to stomach for an atheist and create images in my mind of mid-western republicans with Texas ties. I´m getting the feeling that moderate Christians would also find these lyrics to be on the cheesy and preachy side.

The musiciaship is decent, although the drums are simple, repetitive and not up to par with the remaining parts of the music. People into Rush, King´s X and their ilk, will know what to expect, although Torman Maxt never reaches the excellence of their influences. The sound production is thin sounding and not well balanced. It may be wise to bury the drums in the mix, given that they are the weak link here (and often sound like someone is beating a cardboard box), but it makes for an unbalanced soundscape.

So upon conclusion this is a below avarage hard rock/heavy metal release. The Christian lyrics are preachy and cheesy, the sound production is thin sounding and unbalanced, and the band don´t write any music you haven´t heard before (and better). It´s not what´d I´d call a catastrophe, but it´s not exactly a stellar release either. A 2 star (40%) rating is warranted.