Review Mystic Prophecy - Ravenlord 2011

Tracks.
1. Ravenlord
2. Die Now!!
3. Eyes Of The Devil
4. Damned Tonight
5. Hollow
6. Wings Of Destiny
7. Endless Fire
8. Cross Of Lies
9. Reckoning Day
10. Miracle Man
11. Back With The Storm (Digipak Bonus Track)

Band:
R.D. Liapakis – Vocals
Markus Pohl – guitars
Constantine – guitars
Connie Andreszka – bass
Tyronne Silva – drums

Diskography:
2002: Vengeance
2003: Regressus
2004: Neverending
2006: Savage Souls
2007: Satanic Curses
2009: Fireangel

Info:
Produced and mastered by R.D.Liapakis and C. Schmid at Prophecy and Music Factory studios /Kempten
Mix by F. Nordström
Artwork created by Jonas Kawalek

Released 25/11-2011
Reviewed 15/11-2011

Links:
mysticprophecy.net
myspace
youtube
massacre

Germany’s heaviest power/heavy metal band is how they are sold the Greek-German power metal band Mystic Prophecy, who according to the promo information are playing Dark Heavy Power Metal. I did enjoy their latest album Fireangel so it was with something of an expectation I took on this album, or rather with interest I would say as I don’t really have any expectations on albums nowadays. The band is led by mastermind RD Lipakis who does the vocals and produces and whatever else he is doing, you could say that he puts his profile on this band. Another thing they have is a really cool looking cover artwork for this album which is dedicated to the lord over the ravens, and in true prophetic tradition they stick with short titles which is always nice. Ravenlord is the seventh album for this band, and that is since 2002 so they have been rather busy with seven albums in nine years.

Germany’s heaviest power/heavy metal band is one description used in the press and this is not far off the mark I would say, they are heavy, energetic, powerful yet melodic with catchy choruses. I would say that the similar bands we used on the last review and still use on this which are actually taken from other descriptions of the band is maybe just slightly off even though they are stylistically similar to these bands I would probably suppose that bands like Wizard or Paragon is more alike. They are heavier than your everyday european power metal band but yet they are as melodic and catchy which is a combination well achieved. RD Lipakis has a lot of power and authority in his voice which is another thing that sets this band apart from most european power metal bands as he uses not falsetto or fine tuned vocals just raw power. The production is brilliant, powerful yet melodic and it sounds in many ways like a typical RD Lipakis production, I was thinking in style of Portrait From the Abyss Within by Eldritch which Lipakis has mixed or mastered I don’t recall which but it is similar in style, then of course think of the sound in Fireangel and evolve it, FireForce is another band with a similar Lipakis sound. Overall I think this album is a logical sequel to Fireangel, an evolved production and different songwriting as well as slightly heavier sound is what they offer us on Ravenlord compared to Fireangel.

We were very positive to Fireangel and if this is an evolvement it must be a better rating then? Well, it is never really that easy as it has to set itself enough apart from Fireangel as well in order to be eligible for a higher rating than it. Ravenlord is clearly better on all accounts but is it that much better, that was what I was debating each time I heard this album which is 25 times by now and I would say that I am inclined to think so. The opening track Ravenlord is one of the best power metal tracks I have heard in a long time, and then the album just goes on and one great track after another follows. The album has eleven tracks and all of them are really good, even the cover track which is an Ozzy cover, I would have to say that it is eleven in the digipak issue and not the regular one which holds ten tracks. That eleven track issue is 44 minutes long almost, and the regular edition is little over 40 minutes long so it is not even too long.

And did I ever say that RD Lipakis has to be one of the best ever power metal singers out there, his voice is full of power and emotion and just carries these great songs to higher heights. I can’t really find any point to fault this album at, the only one I can think of will not be valid after the 25 of november either because the one problem with this album right now is that it is not released and that is not much of a problem, is it? I just enjoy this album and often find myself singing along with the great songs, it is rarely that you encounter these rare gems that do that, sure I am close to ten six or seven H ratings this year but this document where I write the reviews is over 300 pages long at the moment so by deduction I assume I have reviewed around 300 albums this year and ten is not really a high percentage of great albums, is it? around 3% it is in case you can’t count or don’t understand how to count percentages. So probably an album for the top tens of this year, at least for mine.

This album has it all going for it, GREAT singer, great songs, great production and sound, and the band even knows to stop in time, a brilliant album and clearly one of the highlights of 2011.

HHHHHHH

Mystic Prophecy Ravenlord

Mystic Prophecy
Ravenlord