August 22, 2010

Reviewer: Rottenbucher

Anyone remember when Pro-Pain were called “Crossover”? Well, nearly 20 years young, these Hardcore/Groove/Thrash stalwarts have been bludgeoning brains in and showing no sign of wear. Sure, they had some soggy albums in the twilight of the 90s and 2008’s No End In Sight was rather so-so, but Absolute Power may prove to be their best.

No End In Sight was a bit weird. After Age of Tyranny, their angriest, fastest and heaviest album to date, the band seemed a need to relax, slow it down and just have fun. Absolute Power lives up to its title and continues the bands progression to heavier territory, even teetering on Death Metal in spots.  Right off the bat, album opener “Unrestrained” shows the band picking back up the pace and spitting much more venom than the last disc. In fact, Pro-Pain 2010 bears little resemblance to the crushing chunk of their early 90s releases. “Destroy the Enemy” rumbles and roars with grooves and grinds while Destruction’s Schmier contributes to the chorus on the thrashy “Stand My Ground.”

“Road to Nowhere” tosses in some catchy melodic hooks and soloing with punkish moments and churning grind.  “AWOL” features more catchy grooves and those clean vocals that have been showing up on the last few Pro-Pain discs. “Hell on Earth” turns up the intensity with a few blast beats and “Divided We Stand” blazes and burns in under two-minutes. “Going Rogue (I Apologize)” is the typical sing-along that graces every one of their albums with its big chorus. While these usually are a bit out of place, this one is undeniably catchy. “Rise of the Antichrist” returns the album back to brutality with galloping grooves, guttural vocals and a wall of riffs. Except this time the band shows a lot of maturity with some seriously slick soloing.  The album closes with “Hate Coalition” that seems more Malevolent Creation than Pro-Pain with its full-on Death Metal vibe.

In all, Absolute Power is a massive affair that finds Pro-Pain firing on all cylinders. While they still Hardcore at heart, the band sounds better and more confident with all the speed, catchy hooks and even blasting. Also worth noting is the songs feature the best solos ever crafted by the band.  Pro-Pain has never had any probably laying down a wall of sonic hurt, but this time it comes off flawless. Highly recommended for fans not only the band, but hardcore, crossover or anything else with a good groove, frantic pace and a whole lot of aggression.

Release Date: August 10th, 2010
Label: Regain Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  Unrestrained
2.  Destroy the Enemy
3.  Stand My Ground
4.  Road to Nowhere
5.  AWOL
6.  Hell On Earth
7.  Divided We Stand
8.  Gone Rogue (I Apologize)
9.  Rise of the Antichrist
10.  Hate Coalition

Total playing time:  37:14

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Pro-Pain - Absolute Power