Mystic Prophecy
War Brigade
Massacre Records
2016
Through the years and a barrage of albums (nine in sixteen years), these Germans initially, with a permanently relocated Greek singer, ended up being more Greek, as of late, with three out of five members being Greek on their current line-up. Primarily they even countered Gus G. among their brethren, until he left them to concentrate on Firewind.
The various influences have rubbed off on Mystic Prophecy that have honed their style into a muscular, but slightly banal heavy power metal that takes cues from both European as well as American bands.
“Follow the Blind” is a nice enough opener that might be quite riddled with clichés in a lot of areas, but is rather enjoyable, plus it sort of condemns war mongering. It does drop a couple of references on metal albums, but nowhere as near as many as on the follow up “Metal Brigade”, which might not be bad, but it lazily name checks a few dozen “titles” to make up most of the lyrics and ends up being one of those “metal pride” songs that end up being quite cringe worthy. It’s not the most terrible offender and the slight Dio-esque air sort of carries it, but...
“Burning Out” starts out with a drum barrage and a demonic growl, followed by a meaty riff, but it’s more “sound and fury” than real substance.
“The Crucifix” begins melodiously, but after it reaches the chorus, it gets very predictable and banal, quickly.
“Pray to Hell” is another generi-metal tune that also name drops a couple of “albums” with some also generic demonic imagery-lyrics that might have felt cutting edge back in 1981, but now unless done by someone who was around back in the day feel quite juvenile. And this whole “Made in Hell”, “Unleash the Beast”, “Black In mind” name checking – for I dunno the third time… oh boy… mysteriously enough, this song felt even a bit like proto-Slayer done slower and without the chainsaw soloing that made the Californians stand out.
“10.000 Miles Away” is a ballad (!?) that gets electric and it’s quite predictable and typical, not too bad, but not heart-stopping either.
A nice breather, before a “Good Day to Die” dawns with even a 5 second sample from the movie “300” that is indeed cringe-worthy. As we’re both Greek, we know there wasn’t any “Ahou-Ahou Ahou” war cry. The song is epic, in a way, but again nothing too special.
Back into the diabolical realm, “The Devil is Back” is as satanic as playing “Dungeons & Dragons” might be. Ie probably a fatal sin, if you’re a tali-ban of a Christian, but generally not very much.
“War Panzer” is a generi-warfare metal song that’s got a nice intro and a decent enough pre-chorus verse, but is a bit of a letdown once the actual chorus hits home.
“Fight for One Nation” continues the generic power metal marathon, keeping up appearances, with its “Spartan Warriors” etc…
“War of Lies” is one of the better songs, more in tune with the opener than anything else both thematically as well as musically.
Lastly, there’s a quite “dark” cover of Tom Jones’ “Sex Bomb”, just to show that the band has an ounce of humor…
Decent, but I guess the only album I genuinely and fully enjoyed by Mystic Prophecy, was 2009s “Fireangel”. This one ain’t bad, but on the other hand ain’t great either. It’s sufficiently good to put out, but feels a little generic and lazy, possibly capitalizing on having a crowd that’s already following the band and is unlikely to go looking elsewhere to satisfy their musical cravings. Sad but true.
The various influences have rubbed off on Mystic Prophecy that have honed their style into a muscular, but slightly banal heavy power metal that takes cues from both European as well as American bands.
“Follow the Blind” is a nice enough opener that might be quite riddled with clichés in a lot of areas, but is rather enjoyable, plus it sort of condemns war mongering. It does drop a couple of references on metal albums, but nowhere as near as many as on the follow up “Metal Brigade”, which might not be bad, but it lazily name checks a few dozen “titles” to make up most of the lyrics and ends up being one of those “metal pride” songs that end up being quite cringe worthy. It’s not the most terrible offender and the slight Dio-esque air sort of carries it, but...
“Burning Out” starts out with a drum barrage and a demonic growl, followed by a meaty riff, but it’s more “sound and fury” than real substance.
“The Crucifix” begins melodiously, but after it reaches the chorus, it gets very predictable and banal, quickly.
“Pray to Hell” is another generi-metal tune that also name drops a couple of “albums” with some also generic demonic imagery-lyrics that might have felt cutting edge back in 1981, but now unless done by someone who was around back in the day feel quite juvenile. And this whole “Made in Hell”, “Unleash the Beast”, “Black In mind” name checking – for I dunno the third time… oh boy… mysteriously enough, this song felt even a bit like proto-Slayer done slower and without the chainsaw soloing that made the Californians stand out.
“10.000 Miles Away” is a ballad (!?) that gets electric and it’s quite predictable and typical, not too bad, but not heart-stopping either.
A nice breather, before a “Good Day to Die” dawns with even a 5 second sample from the movie “300” that is indeed cringe-worthy. As we’re both Greek, we know there wasn’t any “Ahou-Ahou Ahou” war cry. The song is epic, in a way, but again nothing too special.
Back into the diabolical realm, “The Devil is Back” is as satanic as playing “Dungeons & Dragons” might be. Ie probably a fatal sin, if you’re a tali-ban of a Christian, but generally not very much.
“War Panzer” is a generi-warfare metal song that’s got a nice intro and a decent enough pre-chorus verse, but is a bit of a letdown once the actual chorus hits home.
“Fight for One Nation” continues the generic power metal marathon, keeping up appearances, with its “Spartan Warriors” etc…
“War of Lies” is one of the better songs, more in tune with the opener than anything else both thematically as well as musically.
Lastly, there’s a quite “dark” cover of Tom Jones’ “Sex Bomb”, just to show that the band has an ounce of humor…
Decent, but I guess the only album I genuinely and fully enjoyed by Mystic Prophecy, was 2009s “Fireangel”. This one ain’t bad, but on the other hand ain’t great either. It’s sufficiently good to put out, but feels a little generic and lazy, possibly capitalizing on having a crowd that’s already following the band and is unlikely to go looking elsewhere to satisfy their musical cravings. Sad but true.