Forgotten Heavy Metal Albums: "Fallen" by Finnish Gothic Metal Band "For My Pain"

"Fallen" is the only full-length studio album by Finnish Gothic metal band "For My Pain." It is one of those articles again that I announce this as one of those heavy metal albums that will be largely forgotten even 10 years from now. The group went on a hiatus and as of 2018 nothing has been heard from them. Which members play on this album?

Personnel

Altti Vetelainen: bass guitars (formerly played with the melodic death metal band Kalmah)

Petri Sankala: drums (another former member of the band Kalmah)

Lauri Tuohimaa: guitars and back up vocals

Olli-Pekka Torro: guitars

Tuomas Holopainen: keyboards

Juha Kylmanen: vocals (note: he has also been the vocalist for Finnish band Reflexion).

From the first listen of this album the song “My Wound is Deeper Than Yours” is a superb Gothic metal song about pain and sorrow caused by tears daily that are considered to be black even though tears are of a white color when humans cry. This song addresses sorrow and sadness, two of the most basic human emotions. Sometimes when someone is wounded they feel that their wounds surpass that of another person. Metaphorically, the song is trying to address that if you cut off the wings of the angel (human emotions), then the person affected will sink even further into his cycle of misery and pain.

Dancer in the Dark is a song about light and darkness and about the battle between good and evil. Queen Misery is a song that addresses the concept of a person that has told too many lies, hidden too many of their secret thoughts and in the process they have transferred their misery and painful experiences onto someone else. That’s the frequency they were sending out when this person became affected by that frequency. Sea of Emotions has that feel that it is slow, dark, and moody yet the beauty of the song cannot be lost in all this. Sometimes some people want to show that they are in their own misery as the love slowly leaves them and flies away, higher than even a bird.

Even though the album’s lyrical themes are largely of a moody nature, the song Broken Days lyrically encourages people to turn their backs away from the darkness and shift their focus towards the never ending light of love. Though it can be very hard to turn to the light of love when someone is crying and depressed all the time. But the song is an appeal to those people that are depressed. Never give up hope, there is hope for you if you turn to the Universal light of love. Autumn Harmony is a song discussing the coming of the autumn season as the rain has come upon the land. Everything that dies is eventually reborn again. The song also tries to tell us that there is no need to be afraid. That’s easy to say but the song brings up one of the main concepts of the Hinduism religion which states that there is the idea of reincarnation as the soul is reborn in another body when the person dies. The beginning riff of the song is like the band Lullacry in the years of Tanya Kemppainen. Sometimes a good cry is needed to ease the pain of whatever we are going through but too much crying is counterproductive. There are days that feel like a long walk in cold rain and we do not feel like being around the people that we feel closest to. This is the sign that we are dead on the inside and we think that no one will care about us. That’s the message that the last song is trying to point out.

So why is Fallen a forgotten album? It is one of those albums that was started by two members of the band Eternal Tears of Sorrow and Tuomas Holopainen of the famous band Nightwish was asked to join them and contribute. The album discusses the themes of love, sorrow, pain, and death but it is so beautifully composed that no one will end up crying at the end of this album but they will hear the musical magnificence as the songs fit together to create one of Finland’s best heavy metal albums.