War Brigade Mystic Prophecy 2016 Massacre Records Mystic Prophecy are a Power Metal band from Germany who play a blend of Power Metal leaning towards Iced Earth type musicianship with melodies that are akin to the likes of Iron Maiden, Helloween and Gamma Ray. This blend works really well and Mystic Prophecy have pulled this off flawlessly over their 16 year career. War Brigade is Mystic Prophecy’s 9th studio album and after a few back to back albums of personal changes, War Brigade features the same line-up as the previous album, 2013’s Killhammer and the stability of this line-up shines through. The production on War Brigade is handled by vocalist R.D. Liapakis who has done stellar work. War Brigade sonically sounds like it has had the touch of Kevin Shirley, who has had the Midas touch with Iron Maiden’s albums since 2000. This is high praise for Liapakis work, but credit where credit is due as Liapakis manages to make War Brigade sound excellent without managing sounding overproduced and over-polished. War Brigade has the sound of a classic album, it’s worn in and familiar without the cold technical and calculated feeling that you can get from a lot of Power Metal albums. War Brigade has a sound that it could easily have been released in the late 80’s/early 90’s. The opening track on War Brigade is Follow the Blind and contains the very American sounding meaty riffs which can make American Power Metal so appealing, however, it just doesn’t stop there. War Brigade is a sonic assault of Heavy Metal riffs, the guitars of Markus Pohl and Laki Ragazas are phenomenal throughout, not only are they in your face, they can also be at times melodic and soaring, fully complimented by the powerhouse drumming of Tristan Maiwurm and the anchor of Joey Roxx on the bass. The vocals of Liapakis are what manages to make War Brigade, Liapakis’ voice is reminiscent of Bruce Dickinson, not the Dickinson of yore, but the one that returned to Maiden for Brave New World. Liapakis manages to have the sound of someone familiar whilst having that little twist that makes you appreciate his voice for not being a straight up imitation, a great example of this is his vocal work on The Crucifix. As an album, it is difficult for a metal fan to not to like War Brigade. The songs are well crafted, full of melodic hooks and memorable choruses. The subject matter of War Brigade swings from full on odes to metal such as Metal Brigade to borderline clichéd, but massively catchy and possibly the best on the album, The Crucifix, to themes of war from the ancient Greek themes of Good Day to Die, Fight for One Nation to the more modern War Panzer. War Brigade is the perfect length for an album. Its 45 minutes of fantastic, well played Power Metal from a band with a decent back catalogue that if you haven’t looked into, you definitely should. Mystic Prophecy have released an album that not only adds itself in amongst the best albums released this year, but it definitely sits towards the top end of the list so far. 8/10 Adam The Crucifix (Liapakis/Ragazas)
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