Eclipse Prophecy – Days of Judgement (2013)
Maple Metal Records - Running Time 49:35

Even though Eclipse Prophecy have apparently been around since 2003, ‘Days of Judgement’ is their debut album. Formed in Montreal, Canada by lead vocalist/guitarist David McGregor and keyboard player Frederik Dufresne they are, at their core, a power metal band although there are elements of folk and symphonic metal as well. This diversity in their sound has led them to support the likes of Epica, Stratovarius, Gamma Ray, Pagan’s Mind and Sabaton in the Montreal area as well as some of the more well known Canadian bands such as Kemilon & Blackguard on the Quebec circuit.

This is my first brush with Eclipse Prophecy, and on the whole it’s not a bad listen. If you add some elements of Maiden, Priest and Dragonforce to the above mentioned bands then you’ll have a fair idea of their sound. For anyone who listens to the power metal genre on a regular basis you will know that it is a very over populated one and to make your mark a band has to have a certain something special to stand out. Unfortunately for Eclipse Prophecy the first six tracks on the album, whilst being adequate, don’t really do that. They are well played, sung and produced (also by David McGregor), but are missing that vital final piece of the jigsaw. However, from track seven (the title track) onwards, it’s like listening to a different band. More passionate, focussed and assured, the last four songs raise the bar considerably. I did think that a few more listens might change my mind, but every time these songs stand out as by far the best on the album. Had they been released on their own as an EP it would have been fantastic but as it stands the quality of those tracks is somewhat diluted by the average feel of the rest. There is much talent within the ranks of Eclipse Prophecy and they have shown that they can write several very good tracks, however they will need more of that on album number two if they want to regard themselves as a player in the power metal genre.



https://www.facebook.com/eclipseprophecy
www.maplemetalrecords.com


Review written exclusively for Brutiful Entertainment by Rick Tilley: https://www.facebook.com/richard.tilley.351