Despite producing an endless amount of albums, going on worldwide tours with HYPOCRISY and various other bands, workaholic Peter Tägtgren still finds time for his pet project, PAIN. As another creative outlet for the HYPOCRISY mastermind, PAIN serves as a fun project with a more mainstream output.

The first few seconds of Cynic Paradise starts off with a keyboard passage eerily similar to the beginning of the self-titled HYPOCRISY album, then continues in typical PAIN fashion with an industrial/metal feel. Aside from the ridiculous song title and lyrics, “Monkey Business” has an aggressive riff attack, and is very HYPOCRISY influenced, but still has enough to distinguish the difference between the two bands. The metal/electronic fusion yields varied results, and tracks like “Follow Me” and “No One Knows” are clunkers which are geared for the mainstream crowd. Cynic Paradise has a few fun party songs, like “Have A Drink on Me” and “Life Fast/Die Young,” and are light hearted songs with good hooks.

“Don’t Care” could be mistaken as a track from HYPOCRISY’s doomed Catch-22 album, but Cynic Paradise ends on a strong note. “Feed Us” is a fitting closer with a nicely added piano piece, and also features NIGHTWISH frontwoman Anette Olzon. Olzon’s voice adds another dimension to balance the harsh downtuned guitars and Tägtgren’s vocals, and thus completes another chapter in the PAIN series.

PAIN can be viewed as an extension of HYPOCRISY without the blast beats and testosterone. Cynic Paradise is still filled with keyboards and the classic “Abyss” guitar tone, while the lyrics are tongue-in-cheek and not to be taken seriously. Open minded HYPOCRISY fans will be open to this as a catchy electronic/metal album. (Nuclear Blast Records)