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A very boring and rather upbeat album with a poor sound.-
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| Pro-Pain: Absolute Power |
Groove Metal, Hardcore, Thrash Metal
AFM Records, Regain Records
May 7th, 2010
- Unrestrained - 3:47
- Destroy the Enemy - 4:47
- Stand My Ground - :9
- Road to Nowhere - 4:43
- AWOL - 2:49
- Hell on Earth - 4:57
- Divided We Stand - 1:49
- Gone Rogue (I Apologize) - 4:45
- Rise of the Antichrist - 3:20
- Hate Coalition - 2:38
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| Links |
| Review Information |
Release length: 37:14
Review posted on August 13th, 2010
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| | Overall Score: 3.5/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
Foul Taste of Freedom (1992) • The Truth Hurts (1994) • Contents Under Pressure (1996) • Pro-Pain (1998) • Act of God (1999)
Round 6 (2000) • Shreds of Dignity (2002) • Fistful of Hate (2004) • Prophets of Doom (2005)
Age of Tyrannby - The Tenth Crusade (2007) • No End in Sight (2008) • Absolute Power (2011)
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| Single(s): |
State of Mind (1994) • Put the Lights Out (1994) • Gunya Down (1996) • Time (1998)
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| Demo(s): |
Sampler (1992)
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| Compilation(s): |
Best of Pro-Pain (1998) • Run for Cover (2003) • Best of Pro-Pain II (2005) • 20 Years of Hardcore (2011)
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| Live CD(s): |
Road Rage (2001)
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| DVD(s): |
Raw Video (2005)
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| Review |
Pro-Pain can be described as the Hatebreed of Groove based Hardcore. Much like the latter, Pro-Pain never really did much to alter their sound, kind of subscribing to the philosphy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." However, as of late it seems the band is running out of ideas and trying out some new things that violate the bands staple, and often just sound redundant, ridiculous, and flat out bland beyond belief, whether it be within the band themselves for the musiv, or to a horrible production quality that hacks away at the band until the album sounds horrible, which wound up being the major case of their last album, No End in Sight. Well, luckily the band's follow-up full-length, Absolute Power, has a much strong production quality, but still is just not as good as the band has been in the past, following suit with the downward spiral that has become their albums.
At first listen, one would assume the band had pretty much reverted to their old ways with the starting track, "Unrestrained", which captures much of what makes Pro-Pain an enjoyable act, blending some great Hardcore music with Groove-based guitars, and the haunting background simple Thrash-like guitar chords that appear throughout really helps to make the song bring a very brooding sound to the album. But, sadly, that's about all the good you'll get out of it. There's no denyinhg the production on Absolute Power is still not as good as it culd be, especvially with "Destroy the Enemy", where the vocals used for the build up to the chorus sound dramatically different, but it also doesn't help how laughable they wind up beiong when they try to bring in some melody to it. The guitars themselves also sound hollow, leaving the chorus to be a bit open without having much of that bite that one would expect from a Pro-Pain album. While this is by far not the worst song, it really doesn't leave much hope to the listener outside of a prayer that this might have been some kind of fluke song. Over time it will grow on you, but it just isn't all that greast a track in the end due to those problems.
Melody does seem to play a key factor to this release, as it has on other albums in the discography, but this album's melodic vocals simply sound horrible, and they pop up throughout the course of the release. It really wouldn't be so bad if they stuck with trying to just harmonize the rough vocals that adorn the entire album and are an expected part of the band's music ever since their debut album, but instead, a decision was made to bring in clean singing, and this attacks the listener directly on the following track, "Stand My Ground", which is an otherwise impressive song that has a heavier Thrash feel to it then anything, and superb guitar solo that works with thre music. And if that's not bad enough, prepare yourself for "Road to Nowhere", which features everything irritating and lame from "Stand My Ground", except the music just sounds bland, and there's even female clean singing, or at lesst what sounds like it but could be harmonized gang singing by feminine sounding individuals, incorporated against the simplest chorus this band could have ever churned out. Luckily, this song does offer another entertaining guitar solo, which really comes to be the only positive aspect of this song.
There really isn't a lot on here worth your time. Much of it follows the formula left behind by "Destroy the Enemy" through "Road to Nowhere". The only songs on here that are really worth any interest is the first song, "Unrestrained", and "AWOL", which is a hard hitting song that brings the band back to some of their more well known material, while still retaining a catchy melodic element to the music that is pleasant on the ears of the listener. These two songs really make up the only reason to buy this album the first place, and the rest of the music on the album just contonues to go downward with each passing song. The only other track on here that is really worth checking out is "Divided We Stand", as it simply doesn't have time to break into clean singing and melody that sounds weak since it's just under two minutes, but that doesn't stop it from getting insanely repetitive after that first minute. Finally, the album ends on a bit of a high note with "Hate Coalition", which will ring familiar of "Unrestrained", and really pushes the band into a harder sound, and even incorporates deeper vocals that sound as if a gutteral style is being attempted, with proper gang chants utilized in the background.
Absolute Power is anything but. Much of the album is light and comes off upbeat with a production quality that still isn't that great, and comes off just a little too raw to benefit anything. In fact, much of this album is simply boring and a dramatic departure from the band's established sound and they continue to slide into a more generic sound. Some of the songs on here practically sound like the band just doesn't even care anymore, which is the really sad thing. However, Absolite Power does still boast some enjoyable tracks, some of which share musical concepts from earlier releases, or just complete deter from the new sound that Pro-Pain utilized here, and void of harmonized vocals/clean singing period. If you've been disappointed with the band's musical progress as of late, then you're not going to be missing out on much. Even the newer fans will probably stand back and question what happened on this album. Absolute Power is just an album that really isn't really worth buying, but worth scanning over the few enjoyable songs for possible MP3 purchases.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
AFM Records.
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