Two weeks ago, Painted In Exile dropped their long-awaited full length album, The Ordeal. The reviews are in, and the critics have deemed that the wait was worth it. Heavy Blog is Heavy calls it, "endearing and moving", while MetalSucks hails it as "a complex beast", further claiming, "Painted In Exile have found their own voice". Featuring Painted In Exile's signature sound that further melds classic rock, jazz, classical and even hip-hop influences, The Ordeal transcends far beyond what Painted In Exile has released to date, fully showcasing the band's gifted and refreshed line-up.
If you haven't picked up your copy of The Ordeal yet, you can sample some new tracks featuring accompanying performances by Painted In Exile keyboardist Alan Hankers via a new playthrough video. Music Radar has an exclusive look at the video - watch here: https://www.musicradar.com/news/tech/this-crushingly-heavy-keyboard-playthrough-is-the-classical-metal-fusion-youve-been-waiting-for-644498
Hankers States, "A lot of what I write as a keyboardist is influenced by my background as a classically trained pianist. While writing the album, my goal was to create a unique synthesized sound that from time to time would subtly allude to my influences of the past. In this excerpt video, you'll hear everything from 19[sup]th[/sup] century style harmony, to dissonant clusters and "dirty" synths that double guitar riffs."
Want more PIE? Who doesn't! Check out Painted In Exile's new music video for their single "House of Cards" here, and then watch bassist Jacob Umansky play through the track via Bass Player.
The Ordeal was produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Jamie King - recognized for his work with bands such as Between the Buried And Me, The Contortionist, Scale The Summit and other modern progressive metal mainstays. The album was recorded at both Basement Recording Studios in Winston-Salem, NC and The Fidelitorium in Kernersville, NC. Orchestral arrangements on the album were written by Alan Hankers. Additional production and engineering support was provided by Painted In Exile guitarist Ivan Chopik.
After unquestionably solidifying themselves as a band-to-watch in the progressive metal scene with 2008's 3.14 demo and 2009's Revitalized EP - the latter of which NoCleanSinging.com called, "a creative fireball of attention-grabbing music," and TeethOfTheDivine.com touted as "mind-blowing" - fans have been eagerly awaiting a full-fledged comeback. After dropping a track here (specifically 2014's "DM") and a hint there for the last few years, Painted In Exile fully crowd-funded The Ordeal this year with massive fan support via Indiegogo campaign (the band actually surpassed their goal of $15,000).
