Customer Reviews

Fistful of Hate

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very few bands have released 8 full-lenght albums maintaining the same style and PRO-PAIN can be proud of it. "FISTFUL OF HATE" is their last release and once again, a solid one. Overall, a very good album, not a masterpiece though and i'll tell you why. It starts with "Can you feel it?" and "Left for Dead": the first 2 tracks and clearly my favorites: full of angry, moshy and catchy riffing along with devastating double drumming, and with that classic PRO-PAIN mid-tempo/speed pace that will blow your mind away. Then, "Godspeed" and "American dreams" introduce a new face for the band, with clean vocals on chorus; I personally don't like it. It gives me a sensation of uncertainty for what could happen in the next album. I hope PRO-PAIN doesn't fall into that "nu-new-metal" crap with that "bi-dimensional vocals" non-sense. Gary Meskhil's vocals are like a flag for them and should never be changed. Still, those tracks are not bad, and heavy indeed. "Imploded" delivers blasting double drumming, not a fast song but brutally intense. "Aftermath" and "Freedom Rings" don't stand out as great songs but they do have PRO-PAIN written on them all over the place, like "Cut throat". The instrumental "Better half of forever" is without a doubt one of the stars of the album: energetic and full of breaking rhythm changes; shows their maturity. The last 2 song bring back what the first 2 do: "Lost horizons" and the title track "Fistful of hate" are demolishing: thrash/speed/core metal as its best. In summary, if you are looking for the usual PRO-PAIN sound you will definitely find it. This album is not as consistent as "Contents under pressure" or "Round 6", but still very good and a mandatory piece for true thrashcore listeners. If you don't know the band, they have a unique style and is difficult to tell you what bands are similar, but i would mention Hatebreed, Merauder, Slayer, Pissing Razors, The Haunted, Pantera. Get it.

Pro-Pain knows exactly what kind of music their fans want to hear, and they know how to keep each album unique each time. Although there is not as much speed to this one as compared to previous albums, there are a few intense songs thrown onto here.'The better half of forever', their first instrumental track, is an adrenaline enhanced thrash-fest that's worthy of an award. Other than the title track being fine speed metal as well, they otherwise focused on heaviness with most of the songs, that being their specialty. Check out 'American Dreams', with a chorus that will stick in your head and hands down one of the catchiest songs they've ever written. Pro-Pain is no doubt the hardest working band in the business, a factor besides their influence on younger hardcore bands that makes them a legend in the music industry.

This cd is probably one of the best purchases you'll make this year if you're into this stuff. Although a little repetitive at times (but how many bands aren't somewhat anyway yet still good?!), the sheer volume of highly listenable crushing energy released makes it all worthwhile. I don't how they maintain such a high level either naturally or on dexies or something ;-P, but if you need a good shock to the system and wake up call from this eF'd up Matrix we call Life, this is just the ticket! Left for Dead and The Better Half of Forever just kill!

ONE WORD SUMS UP THIS CD AMAZING.

I was listening to Xtreme Metal Radio on live365.com and I heard Godspeed and American Dreams. I must admit at first listen I was not sure I was listening to Pro-Pain or not. So I decided to pick up this album. I do agree with one of the other reviewers about those two songs. They do have that "Nu" metal type feel to them. Nevertheless it is a solid release from an often over looked metal band.

Plain and simply this CD is heavy as hell and crushing with good hooks and melodies. The songs retain that Pro-Pain hardcore/punk edge but there are couple of new twists I haven't heard on previous releases. In many of the choruses they incorporate the modern day approach of using clean vocals and harmonies to offset the dirty/gruff vocals used in the rest of the song. They also do an instrumental track that is very cool and a nice change of pace. I would agree that the songs may not be as up-tempo across the board as prior releases but the songs are extremely heavy, thrashy, and have that Pro-Pain sound. IMHO, I hear a band that has really matured in their song writing and may have released their best project to date. Go get it, you won't be disappointed. Just make sure you are not listening and driving your car at the same time as this music may cause you to careen into another vehicle as you snap your head back and forth like a banshee!!!

These guys just will not go away. They've been around for close to fifteen years and they haven't changed much at all. This album is along the lines of most of their other stuff which is fine by me. They haven't folded to any trend, they've stuck to their guns and still, amazingly, people consider them a "new" (or should I say "nu"?) band. Fistful of Hate makes a case for their best effort yet. The album starts off with the amazing "Can you feel it?". They lay it all out of track one and if that doesn't convinced you nothing will, so go buy the latest Metallica album and keep calling yourself a metalhead. They follow up with 'Left for Dead', another album highlight as well as 'American Dreams', 'Godspeed', 'Lost Horizons', and the instrumental 'The better half of forever'. They prove once again that they're not afrad to experiment and they'll break before they bend. To me, Pro-Pain is among the best in the business. I'm glad to see that among all these trendy, "tune-down-and-scream-about-breaking-up-with-your-girlfriend" bands, there is still one group who aren't afraid to craft pounding riffs, brutal solos, and griding vocals into honest metal.