The Final Revolution

Album review

While New York City is more recently associated with the breezy pop of bands like Vampire Weekend, there was a time when the city was a breeding ground for the toughest chest-thumping hardcore ever to walk the earth in a pair of track pants. One of a dying breed of N.Y.C. hardcore bands, Pro-Pain keep the sound alive on their 14th album, The Final Revolution, which bursts with meaty, no-frills aggression. Sure, aggressive music still exists, but what made this kind of music different was its confrontational streak, a tradition Pro-Pain proudly keep right from the get-go with album opener "Deathwish," where lyrics like "If I could drive a stake right through your heart, I'd watch your light give way to dark" show that Gary Meskil and company are not to be messed with. Part of what makes the "us against them" feeling that Pro-Pain are able to infuse their music with so likable is that, by listening to The Final Revolution, you feel like you're a part of the gang, making the punishing blasts of guitars and Meskil's hoarse vocals into a jumping-in of sorts. For those listeners out there who have been with the band for the past couple of decades, The Final Revolution is not only the musical equivalent of a bench-clearing brawl, but it's also a fine entry into the ever-expanding legacy of sonic hostility the band has created.

© Gregory Heaney /TiVo