New York Hardcore legends Pro-Pain released their new opus. Formed in 1991 by the founder and sole original member bassist and vocalist Gary Meskil, these titans released their seventeenth full length effort containing ten songs. Although the drummer and one of the guitarists are from Belgium, I still consider Pro-Pain as NYHC band, like they were at the start. Besides Gary, one of the Pro-Pain veterans Eric Klinger is also in the band playing guitar. The music of Pro-Pain is harsh metallic hardcore with most of the songs having groove and classic in your face punches thrown here and there, with angry vibe and great guitar work, topped with Gary’s harsh vocals but also melodies and catchy hooks like in great title song. I love how band also uses melodic and clean vocals at times varying upon the song and the production is just like I love, courtesy of guitarist Eric Klinger, who also recorded, mixed and mastered this record. March Of The Giants is also one of my favorites being classic Pro-Pain hit in your head. Other highlight of this record for me is Uncle Sam Wants You, being punkrock song with nice melody and for me the most catchy song on the album perfect for playing live at gigs. The third song I must mention as highlight is Hell Or High Water. Sky’s The Limit is for me the best song on this album, with beautiful chorus sung in clean vocals which perfectly mix with Gary’s harsh voice. There are some people who say that Pro-Pain is boring because they write and release similar albums all of the time, but I don’t agree with this thesis, because the energy is here and the spirit of hardcore lives in this record. Now, as being a fan of this band since I was a teen hardcore kid, nothing will surpass for me the first three records of this band, but I love this one nonetheless.
