The New Prophecy

The New Prophecy is the third album by Germany's Ancient Curse, and I was sure I'd reviewed them before but no, just a bunch of other bands with the word "ancient" in their name. Anyway, they play pure power/prog metal taken straight from any number of Dream Theater or Symphony X albums. They have the knack of setting the hook with a catchy chorus ("Fire and Ice", "Forever Young") that sucks you into the complexity of the rest of the song and can keep the casual fan interested. They don't go overboard with complex compositions or technical playing nor are they just playing major chords with double-kick drums, so they really do straddle the line between power and prog. The New Prophecy is nicely entertaining and should find a spot in the Venn diagram of a lot of fans' tastes except those at the extreme edges of the prog, power and traditional metal genres. It's no Images and Words or Iconoclast, of course, but I've heard a lot of albums that aren't anywhere near as confident in terms of songwriting and performance.