It's not
unusual for me to receive promo CD's out of the blue from hopeful bands who have
put their heartblood into coming up with music and recording it. It's a bit more
unusual when you receive no less than two CD's from one band. The Spanish band
Barbarian Prophecies have been kind enough to send me not only their latest
promo, 'Remember the Fallen', but also their previous CD, 'Condemned Land...The
War Begins'. In a way, this is a clever move, because it certainly shows how the
band has developed.
'Condemned Land' from 2008 is, to say it the least, a messy affair. It's an
attempt at putting together a work of technical death thrash, but it's not
working at all. Although definitely showing potential, there's no red thread and
the album as a whole leaves you more frustrated than anything else. [40/100]
'Remember the Fallen' is an altogether different kettle of fish. Some
transformation!
Much more focused and decidedly more thrash than death, the latest CD from
Barbarian Prophecies displays a band that is capable of putting together a
complete and rounded album with nice clean guitar pieces and riff-laden thrash
metal that is influenced by both Euro-thrash, Slayer and the Bay Area. In a way
more simple than it's predecessor and by strides better produced, 'Remember the
Fallen' offers effective hooklines and bombastic metal in abundance.
Forget all about sending out the first CD, lads, just stick with the new one -
it's worth a listen and should make label folk interested too, I'd wager. Good
one.
