Pain. We all feel it. We feel it oftener than we oughta. It hovers over us, pins us down, sits on our chest, and puts the full force of its weight upon our body, declining to let us up for any reasonable length of time, not for breath, food, nothing. Pain is why we medicate ourselves — we absolutely just can’t take everything that’s coming at us constantly in real time. Though, actually, it’s more like fast-forward.
Pain. It’s a constant, and it’s a downer, and we have to deal with it somehow. Joshua Tabbia, sole perpetual Cop Funeral-er and Already Dead label honcho, lets it build to soul-obliterating levels and then lets it loose with all of the intensity and nuance he can muster. Whether it’s a massive supernova whiteout or a blast furnace sizzling at unfathomable temperatures, Tabbia’s work on Pain (the cassette, not the sensation) imagines remarkable scenarios of such intensity that the only respite is to allow the tracks to release the pressure building within them.
It rarely happens.
That’s right, the Pain tunes, such as they are, are more content to allow the building to keep building until you just can’t take it anymore. Well, of course then it moves on to the next thing, but that’s intense too. Want a tease of melody? Nope — crush. How about a serene moment? Buzzsaw. Think that rhythm’s gonna turn into a groove? Jackhammer. Believe there’s a glimmer of hope, like the humor in the opening sample of a woman singing “I feel so bad” (don’t make me guess what the sample’s of)? Molecular dismantling.
It’s not rocket science here, people: Cop Funeral’s not here to hold your hand through it. Instead, Cop Funeral is going to immerse you in all the different stages of Pain and then hope you can still walk home after you’ve finished hearing it. It’s bracing, gripping, and filled with rich and delectable details. And it’s actually far more bearable than all that other pain that’s going around out there, that’s for sure. In fact, this Pain is sort of a balm, an antidote for the pain that we feel every day. Come to think of it, this Pain isn’t even pain at all! Pain isn’t pain when it’s pleasant.
Right?
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