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By JEFF MAKI
You know, I sometimes miss shit like Biohazard—in-your-face-hardcore fused with metal and enough attitude to beat any street punk down. Sure, there are plenty of these hardcore/metal-type bands today, but few create the same energy and vibe. It's just not the same. Bands like Biohazard, Pro-Pain and Prong, to name a few, led the way for street-smart, tough-guy metal in the mid-‘90s. And even though Biohazard is now defunct, there are many bands benefiting from the metal resurgence in America the last few years. Bands seem to have been given new life, even if they never completely went away to begin with. Pro-Pain is one of those bands, and let's just say they are back with a bold statement on Age of Tyranny—you guessed it—their tenth album.
1992's Foul Taste of Freedom was Pro-Pain's debut and, honestly, the last full album I heard by this band until now. Who doesn't remember “Death on the Dance Floor”? “There was death on the dance floor when we came to town/There was death on the dance floor/From the heavy connection of the Pro-Pain sound.” Yeah, it was badass. That fire and badass attitude is here again. “The New Reality” kicks off this hardcore-infused yet widely varied effort. It feels like it's 1995 all over again with the song's no bullshit, in-your-face hardcore. Other standouts are the dynamic “Beyond the Pale,” featuring cool female vocals of all things, and “Three Minutes Hate,” in which lead vocalist Gary Meskil spouts “The red, white and blue is turning to red!” In fact, the whole album is a statement against the war in Iraq and the Bush administration. Other songs addressing the topic are “Impeach, Indict, Imprison” and “Iraqnam.” Lyrics are all straight to the point and I'd feel for George W., should he ever meet face to face with Pro-Pain. You have to wonder if other songs like “Heads Will Roll” and “Company Jerk” would've been what the Cro-Mags had sounded like in 2007 if they were still around. Adding to the madness is the excellent guitar soloing by Tom Klimchuck and Eric Klinger; I wasn't even aware of their strong abilities until now.
No doubt Pro-Pain has made a strong return. It's almost like they were sitting around listening to some new-school hardcore/metal bands, looked at each other and said, “Shit, we can do this a lot fuckin' better. Let's go show these punks where it's at!” Age of Tyranny is one of the best releases from this subgenre in a long while. Heads will indeed roll, and it flat out smokes the competition. |
