Born From Pain have joined Poland’s Spook Records for a deluxe CD edition of “Siege Mentality“, and we can exclusively confirm the release is currently planned for autumn 2026. Pre-orders should open in the second half of September.
The CD will carry the eight-track running order of “Siege Mentality (Deluxe)”, adding “De Letste Sjiech” to the seven songs from the original 12-inch. The vinyl version came out on November 20, 2025, followed by the expanded digital edition on January 30, 2026 through Blood Blast. The latter clocks in at a little over 18 minutes.
Spook are still finishing the CD master and artwork, so there is no exact release date yet. If everything goes into production during September, October is the earliest realistic point. The physical edition will also have additional photos and a specially pressed disc with a mini-disc-style visual effect, along the lines of editions the label previously made for Coldside and Respect.
Born From Pain vocalist Rob Franssen said: “We’re happy to finally see our latest record, ‘Siege Mentality’, released on CD. CD has been on the back burner for a long while now, but it’s still an important way to get our music out there. We released the vinyl version ourselves and signed with Blood Blast for digital distribution, and we’re happy the CD will be released by Poland’s Spook Records in the near future.
“They have a long-standing reputation and pedigree in hardcore, and we look forward to working together. Poland has always had a strong scene, and Born From Pain shows there have always been awesome. We’re happy to announce that we’ll be back for a tour, shows and hopefully some festivals in Poland in 2027.”
Born From Pain formed in Heerlen in 1997 around the Mijnstreek Oost Crew, the hardcore community that grew out of the former mining region in Limburg. From there, the band went considerably further, touring Europe, the US, Mexico and Japan and sharing stages with Hatebreed, Madball, Agnostic Front, Soulfly and Slayer. Local cultural institutions in Heerlen still place Born From Pain right at the centre of the MOC story and its influence beyond Parkstad. Next year will make it 30 years since the band started.
For Spook Records, though, this one started in a much less planned way. Spooky Kid had seen Rob at Revolution Calling Festival in 2025, sent him an email a few days later, then got caught up in other stuff and pretty much forgot about it.
“I’ve always respected Born From Pain,” he said. “They were probably one of the first European hardcore bands I got really into when I entered the scene in the early 2000s. I remember the massive hype around them after ‘Sands of Time’ and ‘In Love With The End’. Then, after a longer quiet spell, they came back with a great mini-album and released it only on vinyl, and I couldn’t just ignore it.
“I saw Rob at Revolution Calling 2025, and a few days later I sent him an email with the idea. Then I got buried in everything else and forgot about it. Out of nowhere Rob replied that he was very interested, and we started figuring it out together. For me personally, it’s a huge honour to have another hardcore scene legend in the Spook Records catalogue.”
There is also an old Polish connection here.
Born From Pain’s first full-length “Reclaiming The Crown” originally came out through GSR in 2000. Contemporary catalogue data confirms the original 2000 release, despite a few later discographies listing the record under reissue dates. Two years later, Tomek from Shing Records secured permission to put it out on cassette in Poland. That tape became a pretty big deal locally at the time. Born From Pain also appeared on a Shing Records label sampler around that period, so the Spook deal picks up a Polish label connection that goes back to the band’s early years.
“Siege Mentality” itself came after five years without a new Born From Pain record. Seven short tracks tear through fast metallic riffs, heavy grooves and the kind of breakdowns the band have been throwing into hardcore since the late 1990s. The hometown part runs straight through it too. Heerlen and the wider Limburg mining region were hit hard by industrial decline, and Rob has spoken elsewhere about the economic and social problems that followed the closure of the mines and the way the region was left to deal with much of that on its own.
Rob puts it this way: “‘Siege Mentality’ is one of our most aggressive and uncompromising releases to date. Fuelled by frustration and defiance, it deals with personal struggle, a life between hope and despair, and a hometown region left behind to deal with the social and economic aftermath of industrial collapse.
“The release carries both hope and anger through relentless speed, furious riffs and crushing breakdowns, all packed into just under 20 minutes.”
The extra track on the Spook CD makes that regional connection even stronger. “De Letste Sjiech” first appeared separately on a limited 7-inch in 2025 before becoming track eight on the digital deluxe edition. It is the local-language counterpart to “The Last Descent”, written as a tribute to miners who died underground.
The lyrics stay inside one miner’s head as a normal shift turns into panic below ground. He hears screaming, thinks about his wife and children and tries to get out, with “Memento Mori” returning through the song. The subject is close to home for a band that came directly from the Oostelijke Mijnstreek.
Music for “De Letste Sjiech” was written by Stefan van Neerven, with lyrics by Robert Franssen and accordion from Guido Beckers. Tue Madsen recorded and mixed the track, while Daniel Priess recorded and produced the video, which premiered on January 30, 2026.
The new Spook Records edition will put all eight songs on one physical CD for the first time. No Polish shows have been announced yet, but conversations are underway, and Rob says Born From Pain intend to be back for a tour, individual shows and hopefully some festivals in 2027.
