Review: Paint the Town Red “Home is Where the Hate Is” CD

Damn, this is solid hardcore from Germany that I'm pretty into aside from the fact that the recording kind of blows. I guess that's too harsh a word, as it sounds listenable for the most part, but it's really thin and the guitar tone is awful. The screaming vocals are about the only thing that sounds totally fine. But the drums are too thin, the bass often gets lost and lacks definition, and the guitars are overpowering in volume while still way too thin and weak to possess any real force at all. Give this record a clearer, heavier recording and you've have a major fucking whopper on your hands, though - I can't stress how unfortunately damaging a sub-par recording can be. Just check out the chugging picking parts and double bass drums in "Bored in the USA" - there's no power there at all... the sound of the recording just totally deadens the impact. Damn. But anyway, musically this is heavy hardcore that's neither too metal nor too hardcore - meaning that it's a little chunky without hitting on many overly intense mosh parts or anything, and the chord progressions possess just as much dissonance and post-hardcore influence as they do straightforward grit, so it's not a three-chord old school sound by any means. My only gripe about the songwriting is that, despite short songs that rarely hit three minutes, they need to speed things up with greater frequency. The midpaced stuff is cool, but all too often they end up crawling just a little behind what would be a more energetic pace were they to kick it up a touch. The record picks up in the middle as "Streets of Munich Call My Name" does just that, barely, and immediately becomes much catchier and more up front - standing out as easily one of the best songs herein. "We Are Fuck You" is both chunkier and increasingly melodic, and it, too, is by far one of the better tracks - offering more variety and a stronger atmosphere that has a shitload of promise. Then "Murder My Heart" has a major rhythmic post-hardcore feel during the bulk of its weight, ending with a really intense crescendo that quite kills. "The Fighting Years" is another slower and harder hitting tune in a traditional metalcore vein, harmed of course by the lack of crunch and density to the guitar tone, but a strong offering nonetheless. The layout looks pretty awesome, with quality black and white photography and a few desaturated color images with the band logo boldly emblazoned across the cover. The lyrics and whatnot appear in crisp text throughout the booklet with scattered lines and the tracklist handwritten for added effect. I'm loving the lyrics too, all of which are bleak and pissed off but with a hint of hope and encouragement: "We hate life. Something ain't right. In this world they break you, hate you, bring you down. And all those times that are wasted for the sake of fitting in. Leave you shallow and cold. Dealing with a fucked up life. Dealing with society's crimes. I am getting so sick of all this rage. All this hate. There is proof that the spirit is still alive. We can make it. We can break it..." Man, what a shame. Solid layout, solid lyrics, and solid songwriting... but that production's really letting a ton of the force slip through the cracks. Watch out for this band though, they've got a lot going for 'em. I'll keep my fingers crossed that their next outing will harness a proper representation of the power that they really possess in the studio. I'd give this a 7/10 in a heartbeat if the sound was any more effective. Damn, it pains me to hear good bands suffer due to lacking studio sessions, but... I'll be keeping an eye out for these kids, definitely.