AXTY’s Pain Made Album Review: Trauma, Riffs, and a Steve Carell Jump-Scare

AXTY’s Pain Made album swings from deathcore bruises to rap swagger and airy hooks—then ruins the tension with memes on purpose. Somehow, it works.

A record that wants to punch you… then wink

AXTY doesn’t ease into The Pain Made Me Who I Am. It lunges. And because this is their first release on Napalm Records, the whole thing plays like they’re trying to carve their name into the wall before anyone can ask, “Wait, who are you?”

The main move here is simple: hit hard, swerve fast, and act like you meant to do both. The album keeps setting you up for one kind of heavy, then blindsiding you with something sideways—rap cadence, melodic fog, a random audio gag—like they’re allergic to being predictable. A reasonable listener could call that messy. I’m not sure it is. I think it’s the point.

“pain made me” opens the door by kicking it off its hinges

The opener “pain made me” starts in immediate low-tuned territory—distorted guitar strokes that feel less like a riff and more like someone dragging metal across concrete. Under that, the vocal layering comes in with this repetitive rap groove while something uglier (a brutal squeal) lives beneath it like a second throat.

It’s short, it’s blunt, and it’s clearly designed to make you lean forward:

oh, so this is how we’re doing it.

The track doesn’t resolve anything—it just lights the fuse. And honestly, that’s a confident choice. An intro like this is basically AXTY saying they’d rather leave you impatient than comfortable.

“who i am” is where the album starts showing its teeth (and its sense of humor)

From there, “who i am” rolls in on a riff that moves like a machine with one loose screw—steady, but with enough wobble to feel dangerous. Felipe Hervoso’s vocals lean into a nu-hardcore style delivery, and the chorus does that smart thing where it lets melody in without handing over the keys. It’s melodic, sure, but it’s still fenced in by well-timed heavier vocals.

The drumming is where the personality really pops. Gabriel Vacari doesn’t just keep time—he changes the floor under you, especially around the midpoint where the beat choices start flexing. The riffing even nudged my brain toward the kind of punchy bounce you’d expect from FOX LAKE—that “modern heavy” groove that sounds like it lifts weights but also owns a clean pair of sneakers.

And then the track does something almost absurd: it drops a Steve Carell meme moment. The first time, I thought,

okay, here we go—band tries to be funny and trips over it.

But it’s placed in a way that actually adds a weird extra layer to an already intense breakdown, like the song is reminding you not to take your own anger too seriously. That’s either genius or annoying depending on your tolerance for chaos. For me, it lands more than it doesn’t.

“selfish” shows up like a calling card

This era also comes with an official video for “selfish”, and the presentation matters because AXTY clearly treats visuals and punchlines as part of the sound—not decorations.

I’m not pretending a video “proves” an album is good, but it does confirm intent: AXTY wants this project to feel like a world, not just a set of tracks. And yes, that can come off try-hard in other bands’ hands. Here, it reads more like momentum.

“dismay” is the track that dares you to keep up

If the early tracks are a hook, “dismay” is the real test. It jumps in with groovy riffs and pinch harmonics, then threads in a rap-sounding verse and heavy growls that feel like they’re stepping on the beat rather than sitting inside it.

Then the chorus backs off into something closer to heavy rock—just enough “light relief” to make you think you’ve got the shape of the song. And that’s exactly when AXTY starts throwing objects across the room.

There’s a moment where a higher-tuned guitar chord progression shows up out of nowhere, like somebody changed the lighting mid-scene. Hervoso shifts into a drawn-out KORN-style whine—one of those tones that’s half pain, half performance. Then blast beats arrive, another meme drop slices through the seriousness, and the track closes on dirty screams.

It’s a lot. Too much, maybe, if you want clean structure. I had to run it back because the first listen felt like getting handed five TV remotes and being told they all control the same volume. But on repeat, the “overstuffed” feeling starts to make sense: the song isn’t trying to be elegant. It’s trying to mirror mental clutter—rage, humor, whiplash, and that annoying inner voice that won’t shut up.

If you hate surprise for the sake of surprise, you’ll call this unfocused. If you like feeling slightly unsafe inside a song, this is where the album starts winning.

“all i love” proves they’re not afraid to sound… weirdly warm

After that, “all i love” comes in with a funky drum beat that basically takes the front seat and refuses to move. It’s the kind of groove choice that could’ve felt corny in a heavier band, but here it sounds intentional—like they want you to notice rhythm as a character, not just a backbone.

The chorus shifts into something more atmospheric. The melodies stretch out and hang in the air long enough to feel heartfelt without turning syrupy. On paper, the contrasts should clash: funk-forward drums, heavy framework, airy chorus. Yet it works. Not because it blends perfectly, but because it doesn’t. The seams are visible, and that honesty makes the emotion feel earned.

If I’m nitpicking, this is also where I briefly wanted them to commit even harder—either go full strange and let the groove get uglier, or go fully open and let the chorus explode. They choose control instead. That’s not a failure; it’s just a safe decision in the one spot where I expected them to be reckless.

“end this” closes the album by lying to you (in a good way)

The first single “end this” is also the closer, which is a bold placement. It’s mixing nu-metal and metalcore elements, and Hervoso keeps flipping between melodic hooks and brutal uncleans like it’s one breath. That switch isn’t just technique—it’s the album’s thesis in miniature: tenderness doesn’t erase violence, it just gives it better contrast.

Rhythmically, the track stays dynamic, never letting you sit in one gear too long. Then it pulls a deceptive break toward the end—the kind that makes you think you’re heading into a wind-down or a reflective outro. Instead, it blasts you into a heavy deathcore breakdown.

That fake-out is pure AXTY: the album keeps baiting you with emotional clarity, then reminding you it’s still built for impact. It’s a strong ending, not because it wraps things up neatly, but because it refuses to pretend this kind of pain has closure.

What AXTY is really doing: building originality out of collision

By the time this ends, the big takeaway isn’t “they’re heavy” or “they can write hooks.” It’s that AXTY is stubbornly trying to sound like themselves, even when that means combining things that normally don’t share a room: deathcore weight, hip hop phrasing, atmospheric melody, and humor that shows up like a heckler.

And yes, “originality” is a dangerous word because people throw it around when they just mean “I haven’t heard this exact combination yet.” But here, the fun side genuinely catches you off guard, and the unpredictability feels like design, not accident.

Whatever you think of the specific ingredients, the album keeps one promise: you usually can’t guess what’s coming next. In heavy music, that’s getting rare.

I’d personally land around a 9/10 experience-wise—not because every second is perfect, but because it stays alive. I never felt the band sleepwalking.

The Pain Made Me Who I Am is out now via Napalm Records.

Conclusion

AXTY made an album that treats whiplash like a feature: bruising heaviness, rap-styled phrasing, melodic lift, and the occasional meme-shaped intrusion that should ruin the mood—but somehow sharpens it. I went in expecting a standard “new heavy band proving themselves” record, and halfway through I realized it’s closer to a personality test: do you want heavy music to behave, or do you want it to surprise you?

Our verdict: People who like modern heavy genres colliding—deathcore bite, metalcore structure, nu-metal bounce, and left-field humor—will actually love this. If you need your heavy records to stay serious, linear, and “tasteful,” this album will annoy you like a friend who talks during movies (and is somehow still right about the ending).

FAQ

• Is the Pain Made album more deathcore or metalcore?
  It leans into both, but the big moments often punch like deathcore while the song shapes and hooks borrow from metalcore (and nu-metal).
• Does AXTY use clean singing a lot on this album?
  The choruses tilt melodic at key moments, especially when they want contrast, but the heavier vocals stay central.
• What’s the deal with the meme drops—are they constant?
  They’re not nonstop, but they’re noticeable. The point seems to be tension-breaking, not comedy for its own sake.
• Which track shows their range the most?
  “dismay” feels like the fullest chaos-package, while “all i love” shows how they handle atmosphere without losing identity.
• Is this album easy to get into on first listen?
  Not always. Some songs (especially “dismay”) throw so many left turns that it can take a couple runs before it clicks.

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