Like they say, most things change but some things will always stay the same. This statement couldn’t be truer than for the punk-tinged bible-bashers called Impaled Nazarene who since I could remember, have been treating listeners to a steady flow of extreme music all the while seldom deviating from their standard annihilating sound. Some might use the fact that Impaled Nazarene has barely changed over a number of years as a point of criticism; and though this is an understandable point, I still believe that this group does what they do very well, and have always managed to have two or three ultra-killer tracks among a host of fillers. The way I look at Impaled Nazarene is the same way I look at Terror 2000: A band which I don’t take seriously, but are so energy driven roundhousing my mom in the face would seem feel right while listening to them. Pro Patria Finlandia is yet another album which fits the Nazarene stylistic formula, and while in my opinion may not be as strong as their predecessor All That You Fear, it still has a few destructive tracks which makes this a par album.

One aspect that I have always appreciated the most as a close second to this band’s music is their crazy (and quite hilarious) song titles. The track names have the blunt nature of punk rock while sharing the blasphemous subjects of black metal. In fact, I find the song titles so great I even used them on my radio show for a contest called “Impaled Nazarene track, or not”, wherein callers would have to figure out which song titles I just mentioned were Impaled Nazarene tracks or just made up. C’mon, Angel Rectums Still Bleed, The Lost Art of Goat Sacrificing, I Eat Pussy for Breakfast, and my personal favorite Motörpenis, are simply gold song titles. While Pro Patria Finlandia may be slightly different from other releases in that it has a nationalistic title as opposed to a blasphemous or sexual one, the track titles and subjects are still the same ol’. The album starts off a little slow with Weapons to Tame a Land and Something Sinister which are typical Nazarene tunes that alternate predictably between two or three riffs and blazing drums. Its only when the third track comes along titled Goat Sodomy that listeners are treated to something a little different. Well, by different I mean the song sticks out more than others and likely the one that the group would call on the audience to circle pit to in a live setting. Neighbourcide is another great track on the album despite it being one of the simpler ones musically; it has this relentless punk-ish flavor with a repetitive but ear-pleasing riff. The best track on the album in my opinion would have to be For Those who Have Fallen, which begins with a suicidal intro and shortly lunges into groovy rhythms mixed with both high-pitched and growling vocals. Musically, this track is the most diverse and there is never a moment where the band commits blastbeat or riff overkill.

While I was fairly disappointed with this album after the first few listens, after a little patience, many of the tracks I brushed off as boring fillers actually grew on me (Tracks like I Wage War and Cancer fall in this category). Overall I believe that Impaled Nazarene fans will hail as Pro Patria Finlandia as a decent album while others may find it a little boring and too similar to the other albums in their discography. There are indeed a few killer tracks on the album that many fans of fast and extreme metal would enjoy, yet the few awesome tracks Pro Patria Finlandia are not as killer as the few present on All That You Fear; I know many people that dislike Impaled Nazarene, but really dug tunes like Armageddon Death Squad and Goat Seeds of Doom. In all, this is a decent effort by the bondage/goat loving crazies that call themselves Impaled Nazarene, but I believe that it will be just the big fans of the band that will go out and throw some money for this new one.