Artist: The Prophecy
Title: To The Pit
Type: Album
Label: Massacre Records

The Prophecy isn’t a name I’d have associated with thrash metal, simply because for the past four years I have associated it with British doom band of the same name. That said, I’m not sure what kind of following they have in The Prophecy no.2’s home country of Germany and perhaps the Krauts would be just as confused to see a bunch of frilly-shirt wearing misery-mongers sporting the name. But anyway. Even if the name doesn’t scream THRAAAASH!!! the cover art sure does; it’s cartoonish toxic-green sketch looks like it was done in felt tip pens by a, grantedly gifted, twelve year old who wears his trousers a bit too baggy and always carries a canister of spray-paint and at least two permanent markers on his person; childish, but charming!

Musically this holds few surprises, although The Prophecy aren’t what I’d call “pure thrash” – there’s other influences mixed into the equation and this isn’t rigid Bay-Area worship. ‘Brutal Thrash Maniacs’ sums the band up perfectly – there’s certainly a brutal angle to this, not least in the vocals which are often a deathly growl. This opener breezes in with a solid thrash rhythm and a healthy amount of energy to back it up. This isn’t a race to play the fastest; the focus is more on a mid-paced, heavy sound and there’s touches of Sepultura and even a bit of Pantera to be heard on ‘From The Basement To The Pit.’

‘A Backpack Full Of Fleshnecks’ has a thuggish gang-shout that bristles through like a group of pissed up blokes who’ve spent an afternoon watching football in the pub, while ‘Modification’ is a brutal, crushing force with a real groove behind it. ’23 Thrash BC’ has a Western twang in places as it rattles away through the dust, while the cruising melody in the riffs of ‘Immortal Attitude’ have more of an old school Testament feel to them. ‘Struggle To Survive’ is razor-sharp and one of the faster numbers on the album, and this has a really angry guitar tone that you wouldn’t want to fuck with, and ‘Honour.Torture.War’ brings things to an abrupt end with a Nuke-Ass speed and battery. All in all, a solid album with some decent tracks. It’s nothing new, but if you like your thrash then you should enjoy this.

http://www.massacre-records.com/