Mystic Prophecy – Satanic Curses

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Massacre Records
Produced by R.D. Liapakis & Fredrik Nordstrom

Mystic Prophecy, with a name like that and their bright power metal sound, have long be grouped with the likes of Hammerfall in the kitsch keyboards-and-choruses metal mire where bands struggle to be heard amongst a horde of duplicate rent-a-riff outfits.

So their intention with Satanic Curses was to be heavier and darker than their previous efforts, and they’ve achieved that in spades. The guitar work is so heavy, in fact, there’s a danger of drowning out the vocals. Or there would be, were singer R.D. Liapakis’ production not so sharp and his vocals so strong. The assault starts immediately with wailing guitars and epic battlefield sound effects shepherding in a massive rhythm and guitar sound which doesn’t let up for five songs.

The songs titles tell the story of the direction taken with this album. Back From The Dark, Dark Forces, Evil of Destruction and the title track all hurtle through at a blistering pace packed with crushing riffs. Demons Blood provides a little light relief, but only a little. It’s still a blazing power metal track, but more the Brainstorm kind.

Then it’s back to the blueprint set out in the opening five as Damnation, Rock The Night, We Will Survive and Grave of Thousand Lies obliterate any preconceptions about the band’s sound. Producing a devastating album like this refreshes a bands career two-fold, because it redefines their live show as well. This material is guaranteed to re-inject that energy and enthusiasm both the band and the fans had when they first started.

The cover of Black Sabbath‘s Paranoid is a bit of “gimmick”, as the band openly admit, but at the end of such a powerhouse album of dark metal it’s no bad thing to have a bit of fun. This is easily Mystic Prophecy’s best album to date and, along with Symphorce‘s Become Death, is one of the best heavy power metal albums of the year. And instant metal classic.

“ packed with crushing riffs ”

Tracklist: Back From The Dark / Sacrifice Me / Dark Forces / Satanic Curses / Evil of Destruction / Demons Blood / Damnation / Rock The Night / We Will Survive / Grave of Thousand Lies / Paranoid
Special Edition Bonus Track: We Fly

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Power Metal, Mystic Prophecy