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Impaled Nazarene is one of those bands that it took me a while to check out - no reason other than the usual "so many bands, so little time (and money)". My previous experience with the band is limited to their excellent live album, so I'm approaching this new album with a rather fresh mind. Over the years I've been reading that the band's last good album was back in 1996. Well, I don't know yet about that, so I'll just stick to this one since I can't really make any comparisons. End disclaimer.

"Pro Patria Finlandia" is a nice little collection of Black/Thrash played at full speed and frankly, if they were to play this entire album live, I think the chiropractors in that town would be busy the next day. Speed is the name of the game here, although not crazy hyperspeed like Panzer Division Marduk for example. I found that the drums are running the show here - non-stop, thundering drumming that's rather high in the mix, but without taking anything away. In fact I found this adds something to the overall violent atmosphere of the whole album. You'll rarely find me liking an album where the guitars take second stage, but here it just sounds right to have the drums so predominant. Couple that with some convincing vocal work - Black-style screeches that scream hate and violence are just the perfect fit for the music. Some highlights of the album are "Goat Sodomy", "Neighbourcide" and the excellent "One Dead Nation Under Dead God" which is by far my favourite.

This is an album that I've been spinning on a regular basis for several weeks now and I have yet to grow tired of it. If there's any complaint, it's probably just that it sounds a bit repetitive, but then again here it's not really bothering me - your mileage may vary. It's downright addictive and it simply destroys everything in its path. I don't think I need to add anything more.