PRO PATRIA

For the somewhat 'older' generation, the name Pro Patria may sound already familiar, but for those who did not experience the '90s (or found their way to the darker scene somewhat later), this Belgian EBM project may sound unfamiliar. Not so surprising since they took 20 years from their debut release ‘Quod erat Demonstrandum’ to come up with the successor ‘Back to Basics’ which was released in 2017. Fortunately, this time the fans did not have to wait that long for the successor because their third full-length ‘Executioner’ saw the light of day last September.

If you let the CD run you will discover that it does not contain 11 but 13 tracks: Head and voice Peter Vercauteren presents us their more New - Wave sounding ‘Creatures of the night’ and ‘Oppression’, which was the first song ever written by Pro Patria, as a gift.

While they used to make mainly robust, bombastic EMB, today a wider range of EBM styles are explored on ‘Executioner’. Have no fear, everything remains quite danceable and familiar sounding. Dare we compare Pro Patria to Front 242? Yes, we dare, and we even dare to state, Pro Patria does not really sound inferior to its fellow countrymen. Proof of this, for instance, is the release of the single ‘Executioner’ by Brazilian label MH records. We are very curious about what's still hidden up that sleeve Peter Vercauteren!

Sabine MOORHEM
05/01/2020