Pro Patria

There Are At Least 3 Artists With This Name 1 Belgian-Based Pro Patria Was Founded In 1988 By Keyboard Virtuoso Peter V. Aka PVC With The Aim To Create A Middle Road Between Commercial Mainstream And Alternative Electronic Music. Assisted By Pierre Fonteyne And Later By Bert Depuydt The Band Quickly Evolved Into A Darker EBM Style And Released Their First Demos In 1991. Encouraged By Positive Feedback A First Studio Album "Spasmaticae" Was Released On Cassette Tape In 1993 Followed By Five-Track "Militaria" In 1994 And A Live Tape "Veni Vidi Vici" One Year Later. In 1996 Pro Patria Signed With German Celtic Circle Records And Out Of This Collaboration Arose The Full CD "Quod Erat Demonstrandum" And The Ensuing "Hard Times" Maxi. The Album Skilfully Produced By Marc Schellekens Became A Compilation Of Ten Years Of Pro Patria During Which The Band Had Developed Its Own Distinctive Sound Characterised By Complex Layers And A Myriad Of Different Voices. The Lyrics Advocated A Healthy Mind In A Healthy Body A Strong Aversion Towards Fascism And Criticised Religion. Unfortunately C.C. Faced Bankruptcy When The CDs Were About To Be Released And Pro Patria Remained Empty-Handed. Attempts To Have "Quod Erat Demonstrandum" Released Through Other Labels Failed Because The Music Was Either Deemed Not Dark Enough Or Not Techno Enough. In 1998 Peter And Bert Split Due To Artistic Disagreements And David Vallée Lith E.K.S. Center Took The Latter's Place For The Ensuing Gigs The Last Of Which Was In 2002. In The Meantime Peter's Personal Situation Had Changed Much For The Worse Undermining His Motivation And Pro Patria Became Forgotten. In 2017 Whilst Assuming That Pro Patria Had Long Been Dead And Buried Peter Was Surprised To Receive An Invitation To Play At The Familientreffen EBM Festival Near Leipzig Germany. The Concert Was A Success And Being Again Surrounded By People Who Believed In Pro Patria Peter Dived Back Into The Studio To Produce A New Album "Back To Basics" Exactly 20 Years After "Quod Erat Demonstrandum". The Challenge Was None Of The Least After Such A Long Inactivity. For This Reason Peter Went Back To His Roots “Back To Basics” To The Era In Which He Had Developed The Real Pro Patria Sound And He Wondered How Pro Patria Would Have Evolved If The Band Had Continued To Exist Over The Last 20 Years. Building On The Same Somewhat Bombastic Concept The Sound Became Harsher More Direct. Even Though The Old Themes Were Still Present Concern About The Environment Overpopulation And A World Dominated By Social Media Also Set The Tone. Surprisingly Or Perhaps Not “Back To Basics” Became A Much More Personal Album Largely Inspired By The Extremely Dark Period Peter Had To Go Through. One Year Later Pro Patria Played Live I.A. At The Famous W-Festival In Amougies Belgium. For The Occasion Peter Received Back-Up From SebMer BlondWülf Keys And Jérémie Venganza Percussion Which Added Significantly More Power To The Performance. The Band Was Thrilled To Receive A Lot Of Positive Feedback. Encouraged By Their Increasing Success Pro Patria Released A New Album In September 2019 Called "Executioner" Intended To Bridge The Gap Between Quod Erat Demonstrandum And Back To Basics. It Turned Out To Be Much More Than That. Not Just More Mature But Almost Encyclopedical Compiling Various Electro/EBM Trends Of The Last 35 Years In One Album Whilst Maintaining And Even Expanding The Typical Pro Patria Sound. 2 Pro Patria For The Fatherland Is A Rock Against Communism Band From Eskilstuna Sweden. The Band Was Formed In 1987 By Among Others Jocke Karlsson Who Is Also Known From Bands Such As Pluton Svea Pitbullfarm And Völund Smed. The Band Was Disbanded In 1990 But Some Of The Members Moved On To Form Pluton Svea Who's Debutalbum "Genom Kamp Till Seger" Was Released By Ragnarock Records In 1994. 3 A RAC Project Between The Granits & Selbststeller. read less