Artist: Pro-Pain
Label: AFM Records
Released: 2011
Length: 78:07
Rating: 4.5/5
Think of New York and its HC scene, and it’s hard to forget that the whole point of this pretty extreme heavy genre is sweat first, then blood, sacrifice and the edge that makes the Big Apple the center of musical rebellion for a reason. In this incubator of countless talents, alongside Sick Of It All, another major pillar was the hard graftsmen of Pro-Pain, a do-or-die scene staple for a good two decades now. They’ve outlasted the criticism, the sneering of dim-witted critics and endless tours alike, proving that their essence is tougher than granite.
20 Years Of Hardcore is way more than a collection of greatest songs and hits. The quintet poured their guts and hearts onto this record with four brand-new tracks, and besides a cover of Keine Amnestie für MTV, they also took the time to join creative forces with most of their now former members. On a whopping 14 tracks they traded studio sterility for the live atmosphere of the clubs. The re-recorded classics could easily be branded blasphemous and unforgivable, but the thing about Pro-Pain is that they’ve always refused to let anyone dictate to them, whether fans, and even less the industry. The modern production gives the album’s flagship tracks, like The Truth Hurts, Make War Not War and Denial, a new dimension and punch. This explosive package, with a few cosmetic touch-ups, also revives the memory of the album Contents Under Pressure (Shine hits you like a torpedo), and they don’t leave the title track of Foul Taste Of Freedom untouched either. This fresh dose of rage is even better than the originals, and the mix is superbly rounded out by new numbers like Damnation, the not-remotely-U2-ish Someday Bloody Someday, True Liberation or Hands In The Jar. They’re not the peak of the band’s career, but they burrow into your brain like a granite paving stone that Pro-Pain shove between your teeth and down to your gullet in true veteran style, whether you like it or not. The live part of the record radiates the band’s undiminished power on stage, and above all it proves that over the years they’ve only gotten sharper, never bending to the recipes of the far too often more comfortable commercial shortcuts.
There’s no letting up, and the compilation is worth every single cent. And if you haven’t yet managed to take in this New York band’s unpolished brilliance, this concentrate of fury comes closest to defining what HC is really all about. That’s exactly what 20 years of history sounds like, and the disc is packed with 23 outstanding pieces of the band’s history. They’ve passed the test of time, stuck around and stayed true to themselves without compromising their soul, and money never played any real role in the HC survival game anyway, so don’t expect any syrupy sweetness or faked tenderness! NYHC was never dance music for weaklings, and may it stay that way forever. Amen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jjyMrWLI4U
Lineup
Gary Meskil – bass, vocals
Marshall Stephens – rhythm guitar
Adam Phillips – lead guitar, rhythm guitar
Jonas Sanders – drums
Guest musicians:
JC Dwyer – drums on 5, 6
Eric Klinger – rhythm guitar on 6
Rob Moschetti – rhythm guitar on 7
Mike Hanzel – drums on 7, 8
Dirk Wolfl, Tommi Zivil, Schulle – backing vocals on 9
Production
Tom Klimchuck
Tracklist
1. Damnation
2. Hands In The Jar
3. Someday Bloody Someday
4. True Liberation
5. Foul Taste Of Freedom
6. Make War Not Love
7. Denial 2011
8. Shine 2011
9. Keine Amnestie Für Mtv
LIVE IN BRNO (CZ):
10. Unrestrained
11. Three Minutes Hate
12. Can You Feel It?
13. Unamerican
14. Neocon
15. No Way Out
16. F*Ck It
17. Draw Blood
18. The Shape Of Things To Come
19. In For The Kill
20. Let The Blood Run Through The Streets
21. Foul Taste Of Freedom
22. All For King George
23. Destroy The Enemy
