Formed out of the NYC Hardcore band Crumbsuckers, these guys came into the metal scene in 1992 with their debut record, 'The Foul Taste Of Freedom.' This was, as MTV put it, 'received well in metal circles' and they went to release a host of other albums up to their newest 2004 release, 'Fistful of Hate.' Although they class themselves as hardcore, i think that they are more metal, mostly due to the growling, quite COB like vocals. They play a mixture of faster speed metal, and slower, more aggressive tracks, and i do not see how no-one has heard of them, especially after the live performances they have done (they might as well have been constantly touring for 14 years) and amount of effort they have put in. This review is intended to give you guys a better insight into their style, and hopefully you guys will check them out.
Ok, so the album opens up with a bit of feedback (slightly unoriginal but w/e), and you hear the crunching opening chords of 'Stand Tall.' I already knew what his voice was like, but first time i listen to Pro-Pain, i was blown away mostly by his voice. It is absolutely individual, and you hear this in Stand Tall. His vicious growl seems to punch a hole in you, but for some reason you want him to do it again, and this he does. 17 times, on all great tracks, all with there own unique parts and stand-out bits. All of the riffs in this album are great, especially tracks such as 'Life's Hard,' 'Act of God,' 'In For The Kill' and 'Pound For Pound,' just to name a few. The faster, more speed metal like songs such as 'Get Real,' 'The Stench Of Piss' and 'Iraqnophobia' leave you amazed at the variety that these guys can pull off. If you listened to 'Get Real' followed by 'State of Mind' for example, you would hardly know they were the same band, if it weren’t for the vocals.
The quality of musicianship is also great, and even though Eric is in the background a lot, he still shows through with his crunching palm muted riffs, whilst Tom pulls off some amazing solo's on 'Foul Taste Of Freedom' and 'In For The Kill' really showing off Pro-Pains more shredding flashy side. The drums are also great, and sometimes i wonder how Eric can keep up, with some great double bass drum work and fill work, like on tracks such as 'Act of God' which add more a more punk side to the proceedings.
A lot of the lyrics are themed on the government, but have a more realistic approach than a lot of more modern political pop-punk/rock. He enjoys singing about problems that seem to affect the everyday problems in life instead of big, worldly issues, although iraqnophobia (written about the first gulf war) does have an anti-war theme. Other than that, it seems to be just normal life he sings about, although a lot of the time its hard to pick out what he’s saying (which is in no way bad, his voice is so addictive). Gary is a legend IMO. His voice is totally individual, sometimes extremely brutal but always audible over the music. The song 'State Of Mind' best sums up his singing voice i think, we great brutal parts, but softer bits too.
Overall, this album is my par setter for any live CD I buy. Even though i was not there, i can have been to a Pro-Pain gig, and the energy they play with is absolutely amazing, sometimes scary. After 14 years of being together and still remaining relatively unnoticed in the industry, I’m surprised, and proud of these guys for not breaking up. They always seem to put in 100% to all their records and gigs, and for this i love them.
I didn’t give it the full five, simply because the sleeve I got this CD in contained little/no information about the band (even though it was real) and no lyrics, but the CD is amazing in every way.
Standout Tracks:
Stand Tall
Life’s Hard
Smoking Gun
Foul Taste Of Freedom
Crush
The Stench Of Piss
Iraqnophobia
Pound For Pound
