Pro-Pain

Much like 'Foul Taste Of Freedom', this is also just a pure hardcore album, and it's still mediocre, but at least this self-titled release is competent. Granted, that's really the biggest compliment I can give it, that of mere competency, but it's still a great step up from the incompetent and bland material of the past. If you don't like hardcore, you still won't like this one bit, but if you do, it's listenable if nothing very interesting at all.

If nothing else, the production is greatly improved. The first album's production turned what should have been exciting hardcore into a drone of blunt guitars, buried drums, and listlessly shouted vocals. Here it's like the instruments were recorded properly instead of twelve feet away in another room. The guitars are actually sufficiently crunchy and the overall sound is much crisper. Thank god for small favors.

The music itself is marginally improved. It's still firmly in the realm of hardcore (perhaps even moreso; much of the groove and thrash elements of previous releases are dropped here). In general it seems like the band decided to play it straighter here, and it's to their benefit. It's nothing special, but it's groovy hardcore that will get your head moving if you're into that sort of thing. Even the lyrics seem less offensively terrible this time around. It's really only an improvement as an album by degree, but it's better than nothing.

This is firmly rooted in the average and mundane but I can't bring myself to hate it as much as the earlier Pro-Pain album I own. I can't really recommend it or anything but at least it's not terrible.