I wasn’t quite an easy period for Born from Pain after frontman Che’s departure. It was followed by a few temporary collaborations with different vocalists until bassist (and band co-founder) Rob Fransen decided to put the bass guitar in it’s box and took the mic. A quick look through the booklets of the band’s past releases shows that he was the one who wrote most of the lyrics anyway. And in “Survival” the lyrical message is more important than anything else. Call it propaganda if you will. Excuse me but hardcore’s roots are in bands that had this concept – short song, propaganda, another short song, propaganda… Symbols linked with secret societies and conspiracy plans greet us right from the album cover. Besides the pyramid with the All Seeing Eye that everyone (and their dog) links with freemasonry, we have the logo of secret society Skull and Bones, and all of that surrounded by Ouroborus (a snake eating its own tail, meaning cyclicality and eternity). Born from Pain have decided to focus our attention on today’s world that is about to get royally fucked. Crisis upon crisis, suffering for millions, enormous benefits for others, fear, hate… all directed and controlled by people sitting behind the curtain, leading the world to a new global order. And the last words we hear in the last song “Under False Flag” are “ I realize we’re kept from the truth”… “Survival” on the other hand is no movie or book, so it’s not a bad idea to write a word or more about the actual music, is it? Because of the new frontman, whose vocals are a bit less guttural and a bit more old-school sounding, the music itself has taken a twist in that direction – more hardcore, less metal. Which is the reason that, for the first time in a while, Born from Pain are releasing an album that we don’t feel we have listened to before. And it’s not a bad idea to listen to it while you re-read all your favorite books about conspiracy theories. Cause we all know they’re your favorites.