Defiance are a thrash metal band that put out three full-lengths in the late eighties and early nineties, followed by a split in ’92, and a demo in ’94. That makes The Prophecy their first release in 15 years. The members have all been in various projects during this hiatus, including vocalist Steve Esquivel who fronts Skinlab.

I gave you that quick history so you can understand that as you read the trouncing that follows, you will understand that I’m not beating on some kid band on their way up, but veterans who are supposed to know better. Here goes:

This album sounds like the guys in Defiance spent the last 15 years following Testament and Megadeth around, but instead of taking influence from their actual albums, they studied the improvised stuff Mustaine and Peterson played during warm-ups, slowed it down, and stretched it out over eleven songs.

On the production side, the vocals are mixed way too loud and the drums sound very artificial. The reverb inconsistencies between these two elements are also striking, and make it sound like Esquivel is singing in a huge stadium while drummer Mark Hernandez’s kit is inside a wooden box. I will admit though that the guitar and bass both sound pretty killer.

The solos and instrumental parts where Hernandez’s goes nuts with the fills are the only redeeming parts of this album. Everywhere else good riffs are overlaid with awkward vocals or good vocals are underscored by boring riffs.

I can understand why a band with a fan base from back in the day would want to try and capitalize on thrash metal’s current resurgence, but to be honest what Defiance are presenting here is not worth the trouble of a comeback. If they’re doing this for fun, good on them. There’s probably a ton of people who will pick up The Prophecy for old times sake. If however the band plans to make a real go at this they’re going to need to step things up on all fronts.

1.5/5