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Vocals:  Justin Bredvig
Guitar:  Ricardo Racines
Bass:  Daniel Racines
Drums:  Alex Zambrano

The four piece Rising Pain out of Phoenix, Arizona, is obviously out to leave their mark in the straight forward metal community.  Following up their first demo released in 2002, Useless Shell, Salvation For None proves itself to be a nicely polished and unique lesson in all out heaviness.  What's refreshing about a band like Rising Pain is that they're doing now what bands like Sacred Reich have been trying to do for ages...create some highly imaginative and impressively distinct hard metal which borrows from several influences but settles on none.  They have come up with a very tight, crisp sound with obvious inspirations from Metallica, Testament, and Slayer that can stand the test of time.

With no sound trying to out do the other, the most striking part of Salvation For None is the vocalist, Justin Bredvig.  His vocals extend from a Testament meets Sepultura growl, to a droning Meliah Rage-like tone.  His vocals are well complimented by some dominant bass, barrel-scraping guitar, and hellishly moody drumming.  The only downfall to this EP is the fact there are a million bands out there that work off of this sound, however only about 5% of them actually record something worth listening to more than a couple times.  Rising Pain has accomplished this, and for fans of modern heavy-hitting metal with older influences should most certainly look into tracking this down.

Song Notes:

1. Salvation For None - Kicks things off with some complex picking including some impressive fuddling bass, before going into a steady mid-paced chug accompanied by Justin Bredvig's callous rants.  At 1:03 the speed picks up drastically into a strong late 80's thrash overtone before dropping off at 1:35.  The tempo reduction is short lived as they go back into their mid-paced madness at 1:59.  Killer guitar solo to look out for at 2:24.  From there the song continues pace until the finale.  High impressive start to Salvation For None!  A-
2. Chaotic Towers - Starts out as if this was going to be some hyper-speed thrash, but they cool off into some mid-paced butchery after a second quick teaser.  The cleaner vocals on the chorus are phenomenal as they're followed-up by some intense screams bordering on desperation.  It's a shame this 9-11 inspired song weighs in at only 2:52.  A
3. No More - Strong influence of Slayer's Dead Skin Mask.  About :50 into the song they explode into some serious drum-driven heaviness.  This song is all about gradually reducing the tempo, building tension, and then letting loose.  Take note of the quality eerie guitar solo at 4:16 before going into their final infuriated eruption.  B+
4. Third World Nation - Nice little instrumental, although just a bit too ambient compared to the pace of the rest of the songs on Salvation For None.  Only 1:22 long, so it doesn't take up much room.  C
5. Bloodstain - Early 90's Megadeth bass-driven sound opens this one up before it drops into it's slow burning, but effective, chug.  A few short bursts keep it interesting here and there, and at just a hair over the 3 minute mark, it's just the right length for a slower song on a release with this much anger and unique energy.  B+

Average Song Rating:  B+
Overall Album Rating:  A-

Track Listing:
1.  Salvation For None
2.  Chaotic Towers
3.  No More
4.  Third World Nation
5.  Bloodstain

Website:  www.risingpain.com

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