The Prideful - United Voice (This Means WAR - 2012)

Let's stay in Scandinavia if you don't mind. Our marvelous trip to the land of ice now takes us to Finland. Unlike the danish scene, I know a little more about what's going on in Finland (especially given that they have more bands up there), but then again, I won't say that I'm an expert (far from that...).
Here's another record that I bought more or less randomly, I'm talking about The Prideful's United Voice 7" that was released on the spanish label This Means WAR last year. The band comes from both Helsinki/Tampere/Jyväskylä (according to their soundcloud) and had done a 4 tracks self-released demo (in 2011) and appeared in 2 comps prior to this. They play a right-in-your face mid-tempo Oi!, rough, raw and simple, with a voice that actually reminds me of the infamous Paul Burnley (yep... Doesn't mean it's good or bad, just made me think of him, though i must say I kinda like it). Think about 80's UK Oi! (The Last Resort's early recordings, Gary Hodge's 4-Skins, and a lot of The Die-Hards actually) and you pretty much got what The prideful sounds like.
The record contains four songs, namely "United Voice" (about the pride of being a skinhead and how we will never be shut down), "Act of Ultraviolence"(a classic Clockwork Orange-inspired song about street violence), "Kings and Queens" (one more about the skinhead way of life, and this one was featured in their demo as well) and "Treading the Path"(a cover of the same-titled song by Loyalty, with lyrics adapted to the finnish national football team, but be realistic guys, you won't win the cup in the end hehe !). Probably not the most original lyrics you'll ever read, but it never hurts anyone to listen to some more classic texts from time to time, does it ? One strange thing though is that sometimes some lyrics don't rhyme... Well, why not ?
All that comes in a nice black and white cover including some classic skinheads illustrations (boots & braces, beer and football) and viking traceries, with a leaflet insert including the lyrics (good initiative there) and a band picture. 250 copies made, 20 of which are test-pressings with a different cover artwork.
A good and honest record that worth to be checked, they have a couple of songs over the internet so help yourself and give it an ear ! But you already know well that when it comes down to This Means WAR prods, it's always good stuffs !