PROWLER – From the Shadows review

 PROWLER – From the Shadows

Slaney Records

http://prowlerhorror.bandcamp.com/

It seems that this is the debut album of the band PROWLER from the U.S. (they are so many with this name, but these guys are the horror thrashers) since their previous full length release under the title “After You” was actually a compilation of all the EPs that the band had released. So let me tell you my impressions regarding their new full length album.

THE COVER: As I mentioned above PROWLER love heavy metal and they also love horror movies and these two make a perfect combination. So, the cover is based on these two aspects of the band. Actually the whole cover has an 80’s horror movie vibe which is really excellent. On it you can see a young man and woman holding a candelabra and walking down the stairs of a dark basement and on the background the 3 band members are depicted as 3 famous monsters, a vampire, a werewolf (my favorite monster) and a zombie (I think). Yep the cover gets you into the spirit of this album.

MUSICAL STYLE: PROWLER are stuck in the 80’s and they are really damn proud of it. These guys seem to have grown with the well known bands of the bay area thrash metal scene of the 80’s and actually I think that these motivated them to learn their instruments and try to create their own music. I think that clearly PROWLER belong to thrash metal with some heavy metal touches here and there.

COMPOSITIONS: The new album of PROWLER contains 8 compositions and I has a duration of 35 minutes. I like the fact that they have the logic of the 80’s bands and they create an album that has a duration that doesn’t tire you (it is a great way to avoid fillers). From the 8 songs that are included here the song “Pet Semetary” is a RAMONES cover and they have done a very good job at it since they actually gave it a pure thrash metal vibe. The rest of the compositions are dipped into the structures of the 80’s thrash metal sound, which means catchy riffs and solos that might not be long but are enough to give a depth and detail to the songs. I think that PROWLER are amongst the few bands that play 80’s oriented metal sound and they do it like they come from that era. As for their influences, I think you can find them in bands like METALLICA, ANTHRAX and OVERKILL.

CONCLUSION: Once again PROWLER manages to release an album that has nostalgia for the 80’s, but not to the point that the album would lose its character. On the contrary the compositions are fresh and the more you listen to them the more you will enjoy this album. Finally they manage to give to all of the songs a horror atmosphere and I think that it would be great to listen to their music as a soundtrack in a horror movie.

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis