Pro-Pain – Fistful of Hate

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Pro-Pain. Pro-Pain’s Round 6 was the first album I reviewed for WTD, a website that introduced me to a lot of great underground metal bands. Because of that experience, to me Pro-Pain represents all the great metal bands out there that aren’t getting the exposure they deserve.

Pro-Pain’s Fistful of Hate finds the band heavier, tighter, and more aggressive than ever before. Fueled by the war on terrorism and the band’s own patriotism, Pro-Pain has unleashed their most firey incursion to date.

Pro-Pain have honed and perfected their sound over the years, and the crowning production on Fistful of Hate only accentuates it. Pro-Pain’s rhythm section is as tight as Pantera’s ever was — bass notes and kick drums remain highly gated, almost becoming one in the mix. The band’s classic dual guitar sound is back, as are Gary Meskil’s patented vocals.

The band’s last studio album (Run For Cover) was a compilation of fourteen cover tunes. “Can You Feel It?”, the first track on Fistful of Hate, acts as a bridge to 2002’s Shreds of Dignity. Between the tight-ass riffing and the pain-filled growls, listeners will instantly reconnect with the band’s original sound and style.

Pro-Pain continue to push the envelope with their sound by adding a few solos and even some vocal harmonies in a few of the songs — yet overall, the formula remains the same as their past albums: play hard and heavy riffs over rapid-fire beats. On Fistful of Hate, the band has managed to subtly mature their sound without changing the forumla.

On songs like “Fistful of Hate”, “Aftermath”, “American Dreams”, and “Freedom Rings”, Meskil continues to voice his frustration and anger over 9/11 and the events following it (not surprising, coming from a New York-based band). In “Freedom Rings”, Meskil quips, “Texas tea means nothing to me/Does it really mean something to you?”. Later he spouts, “From the rags to the riches to the souls unsung/we gotta get to e reason for this while we’re young/it’s a new generation, damned from the start/it’s a voice of a nation with no heart.” Meskil has never been one to hide his feelings behind flowery language and double entendres. “Can You Feel It?” kicks off with, “So, are you sick of me yet?/well I’m sick of you too/been flappin’ them pork chop lips for days.”

Pro-Pain’s Fistful of Hate is probably the band’s best effort to date; the guys have never sounded better. At the end of the day, if all this website ever did was turn one person on to Pro-Pain, it was all worth it.

Tracklist:
01. Can You Feel It?
02. Left For Dead
03. Godspeed
04. Implode
05. American Dreams
06. Cut Throat
07. Aftermath
08. Save Face
09. The Better Half Of Forever
10. Freedom Rings
11. Lost Horizons
12. Fistful Of Hate

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