While the impetus behind my inclination towards bands like Eyehategod and their ilk is better left to the ruminating psychologist, it's evident to even those safely distanced, Take as Needed for Pain bleeds with a purifying sort of torment. There just has not been a band who have mainlined (pun intended) the heart of the matter with such unfiltered malicious impact. Eyehategod hit with a club while their peers are swinging sticks. And unlike the overwhelming majority of those wallowing in this sad acro-doom/post-grunge hybrid, the songs are propelled by a thorny southern rock blues-based groove (albeit disconnected) and are marked by the unmistakable snarl of "singer" Mike Williams. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I believe emotional conveyance in a voice is in ascendant to tunefulness per se; heart over technique.

To the band's credit, the songs are not hindered with pointless, lumbering aeonian paced musings, but conversely, are paced brilliantly, kept surging by excellent drumming and guitar riffs just this side of catchy. Probably the best release of the band's short career, as it's more coherent and listenable than In the Name of Suffering and entirely less broken and alone than Dopesick. However, it is also the band's most potentially offensive, given the unflinching lyrical examination of humanity's dregs, not to mention the DeQuincey-like drug worship scattered about the inlay. Commercial intentions have clearly not been discussed. Characterized by moments of almost heart-stopping climactic intensity and burdening guts-out-on-the-floor honesty, this record boasts a damaging, sickening testament to anti-aesthetic vitriol. Truly unclean. Accept no imitation.