The cover did prepare me for something good (or that's what I thought so) since it has this totally B movie vibe. The bad news are that "Professing Through Terror" is definitely not as good as I expected it to be and my look into the album's booklet made things even worse.

The Italian Death Metal act was formed in 2003 as SWARM (doesn't this name remind you of something?) but changed their name the next year into ABYSS OF PAIN. It may sound kind of "bad", but even the name isn't something to attract your attention. The worse thing is that the song titles are more childish than the band's name, and the lyrics I read in the booklet are even more childish! Except if they want to be seen like 15 year old kids trying to be mean and play Death Metal, these guys should definitely improve their English!

One more thing they have to improve is their music, since the album kicks off with classic Death Metal patterns that will remind you of CANNIBAL CORPSE, MORBID ANGEL etc. The fact is that they try to fit more elements into their music without particular success. Some slight Thrash stuff, some more melodic and modern touches or even old school Grind ones.

Even though they seem like they are willing to try, ABYSS OF PAIN are being left behind because of their weaknesses. I think they have a long road to walk and there are huge improvements to be made, but I think that if these guys are determined to achieve something then they must sweat and do some serious work. Not quite strong for a debut album...