Pro-Pain "Prophets of Doom" (Candlelight)
By Brian Anderson
Monday. Aug 22, 12:36 AM
Tasty mid-tempo grooves and anti-war sentiment provide for a solid release.

Pro-Pain came into the scene with their aggressive and passionate style of New York hardcore / meticulous metal riffs as found on 1992’s Foul Taste of Freedom. Unfortunately, their sophomore release The Truth Hurts didn’t pack the same blue-collar punch as their debut. Thus, I wrote off Pro-Pain and their unique style of what is now known as “metalcore.”

Fast-forward over a decade later and Pro-Pain are still going strong. I did not expect much from Prophets of Doom, but I was pleasantly surprised with the opening riff of “Neocon” all the way through to “Days of Shame.” Bassist/vocalist Gary Meskil and company offer a parade of solid mid-tempo grooves along with Meskil’s gruff-yet-audible vocals. I was also surprised to see JC Dwyer on drums. Dwyer was a member of Paingod, who were originally called Raped Ape, a band whose show was my first metal concert back in Miami Beach, FL at Washington Square (wiping the nostalgic tears away from my eyes). All reminiscing aside, Pro-Pain also offer some different musical elements on Prophets of Doom not common for these guys. However, those elements are used to set a mood rather than be the dominant force of the song. Lyric-wise there is a very heavy political and anti-war sentiment. With songs like “Unamerican,” “Operation Blood for Oil,” “Hate Marches On,” and “Death Toll Rises,” one cannot help but sit back and view the big picture of what is going wrong in this country and hope that George W. Bush’s reign of terror ends before America is a shadow of its former self. Prophets of Doom may not blow your socks off, but it is a beefy release and by far Pro-Pain’s strongest since The Truth Hurts.
www.pro-pain.com
www.candlelightrecordsusa.com

Brian Anderson

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