Mystic Prophecy

Ravenstine – 2024 Review

Ravenstine – 2024 Review

“If you were to ask me how I began 2024, my answer would be, “Why, with 2024, of course!” More specifically, 2024, the sophomore outing of the German hard rock outfit Ravenstine. A silly album title to be sure, but it piqued my interest, and I was in just the zone for a cut of Jorn-ish hard rock. Something that stuck out to me in the marketing around Ravenstine was the focus on them being first and foremost a group of friends. Could that mean 2024 is a pile of well-meaning but messy jams by a gaggle of lads taking the piss? Or is it perhaps a collection of great songs by artists all on the same wavelength.” The Album of the Year.

Fifth Angel – When Angels Kill Review

Fifth Angel – When Angels Kill Review

“Seeing a Fifth Angel promo surface in 2023 comes as quite a nostalgic surprise for Elder Steel. As a metal-loving teen, I stumbled upon their 86 debut while on a treasure hunt at the legendary Slipped Disc record shop in Valley Stream, New York. I knew nothing of them but bought it based on the cool cover and badass song titles. Turns out it was a wise choice as it’s a smoke show of classic metal anthems in the vein of Crimson Glory and Warrior. Their 89 follow-up was also fun but moved in an unsettlingly Dokken-adjacent hair/glam direction. And just like that, they closed up shop. Somehow I missed that they reformed and dropped a new album in 2018, but here we are in 2023 and they’ve crafted a conceptual DOUBLE goddamn ALBUM!” How many angels can fit on a double album?

Mystic Prophecy – Hellriot Review

Mystic Prophecy – Hellriot Review

“I love Mystic Prophecy. What do I love about them? Everything. I love the excessive machismo of their aesthetic, the over-the-top badassery of their album artwork, their delightful ESL lyrics, and the way the band shoehorns the words “hell,” “devil,” “demons,” “Lucifer,” and any number of similarly sinister subjects (not to mention album titles from their own past and classic album titles from other greats) into said lyrics. But most of all, I love that Mystic Prophecy is hell-bent on keeping heavy metal fucking heavy.” Wicked Mystic.

Circle of Silence – Walk Through Hell Review

Circle of Silence – Walk Through Hell Review

“Fate and happenstance have conspired against Germany’s Circle of Silence lo these many years. I was scheduled to review both their 2013 outing The Rise of Resistance and 2018s effort The Crimson Throne. In both cases, I was forced to drop them to cover bigger albums and Circle of Silence was silenced. When I saw the promo for fourth album, Walk Through Hell bobbing in the noxious filth of the promo sump, I made a blood oath that no force on Earth or beyond would prevent me from reviewing it. I owed it to them.” Hell, oaths, wictory and wengeance.

Firewind – Firewind Review

Firewind – Firewind Review

“While I’m not intimately familiar with the vast majority of Firewind’s discography, entries like debut Between Heaven and Hell, 2010’s Days of Defiance, and 2017’s Immortals have all impressed me in one way or another. When I first got my guitar, Gus G. was the darling of the guitar magazine world after being selected for the prestigious role of being Ozzy’s solo axeman. But it’s his work on Dream Evil’s debut Dragonslayer — a record that happens to be one of my favorite heavy/power releases of all time — that cements him upon a nostalgic throne in my metal heart.” Born of Firewind, other fire and steel.

Mystic Prophecy – Metal Division Review

Mystic Prophecy – Metal Division Review

“Back in 2007, I ran across the Myspace page of a band called Mystic Prophecy. My fire for trve heavy metal was still in its incipient stage at the time—a time that saw Manowar, Iron Maiden, and Iced Earth as my favorite bands—so when I heard “Demon’s Blood” and its immense bottom-end power metal attack on that soon-to-be-obsolete social media platform, I was giddy.” MySpace prophecies.

Savage Messiah – Demons Review

Savage Messiah – Demons Review

“During high school, I loved our local hard rock station, Funky Monkey, and it was integral in the development of my bad musical taste. The best feature was the tough guy voice that gave you the name of the band and the song title after each track had played, allowing me to quickly categorize which bands I did and didn’t like. But when I got my first iPod, all of that changed. Sure, I had a giant book of CDs that I had kept hidden in my car for when the radio wasn’t cutting it, but being able to load a tiny device with tons of songs was a game changer. Before long, I’d left most mainstream rock and metal behind and was listening to all things cheesy and trve.” The more things change….