It is a given that I am a total slut for hardcore and metalcore and if any hardcore or metalcore band knew what was good for them, they would throw their albums at me like candy to kids at some national holiday parade, but this has to be one of the first times where I listened to an album and said, "Wow, metalcore is disappointing." Now the reason I say 'disappointing' is because I knew prior to hearing Age of Tyranny: the Tenth Crusade that Pro-Pain has had their run in the music 'biz' and I would have thought they would have realized that bands like Avenged Sevenfold are currently putting out mediocre albums daily and that by doing the same they would get bashed by assholes like me. I guess they have been living under a rock for the last 3 years.

Really, Pro-Pain has talent, but when every song has the same beat, the same type of riff and nearly the same vocals people are going to realize that things aren't that good. Throughout the album I felt like there was no real definitive sound to this band and nothing really compelled me to take "one more listen" to the album. Sure the breakdowns were okay, but not enough to make things worth the listen. Not even the guitar solos had me coming back.

So I'm pissed; pissed because I had high hopes for this band. If you can stay around for 14 years and still keep making music I'd like to think it would be decent (then again, look at bands like Aerosmith and The Rolling Stones). To me, it felt like every song was just overused palm-mutes and low-string riffs. I'm sorry to say but there is nothing special about this album and I wouldn't expect any new listeners to catch on to Pro-Pain by buying this album.

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