False Prophet

False Prophet is an OG USDM band from North Carolina, playing fast, spidery lick thrash-influenced death metal that recalls Altars-era Morbid Angel but with more unexpected, progressive arrangements. They put out a couple demos & only a single album before dissolving in the mid 90s. Almost 20 years, after Heaven & Hell Records gave their material a thumping Jamie King remix & wide (proper) rerelease, they reformed & began playing live again. Seven years after the second release of Second Death (almost 30 years after it was written), the new lineup stabs out of obscurity on a new release with an interesting format. Two new songs & 2 live, but a total of 6 tracks makes this release similar to an old Maxi-Single.

Prayers Of Emptiness blasts out of 0:00 quick, going half time for a couple measures then lurching forward. Some stops & sudden momentum changes follow, another stop & a Slayer-inspired section. The other new song Divine feels a bit less immediate at first, its first half marked by a lengthy guitar solo before the second half ratchets the thrash back up. The remaining unique songs are from a recent live show, including one from their Second Death reaching almost 10 minutes long. It almost helps to stab at this disc a track or 2 at a time, the music so riff-dense and half the tracks being the same song. Hearing the same song in 3 distinct approaches on this format is interesting, in both the presentation & the reasoning behind. Getting used to the mix of the first 2 tracks, revisiting the previous song so soon is curious choice, possibly made to evoke comparison & discussion as to the possible sound of the next release. The original mix is similar to their live sound, everything very clear & modern. The Creamy Mix starts playing and you begin to start questioning which you prefer. I personally love the remix, doesn't sound like anything I could point to, is refreshing after the previous track & sounds more full, a warm mush opposed to sterile clarity. Not realistic for an album format, but I like the same band releasing songs in their optimal form, regardless of the uniformity typically sought on an album.

Prayer is my clear pick for favorite track, it being the most immediate of the 4 songs. Looking forward to whatever & however much they put out next, which won't be soon enough if you ask me. NC has had a lot of the pioneering bands out of the late 80s/early 90s reforming after inactivity (Confessor, Gross Reality, Aftermath AD, Of Dying Dreams) & slowly releasing new or obscure old recordings. The state has produced some really interesting acts over the years but the time False Prophet arose in was "That Time" for NC bands, a wild landscape of plentiful venues, backyard shows & hungry audiences with fun money and free time to support a thriving scene. They stand out from their lifelong NCDM contemporaries Eldritch Horror with their manic, tangling lead lines & scathing vocals against their often showmates' chunky-while-still-technical guttural death metal, FP the Morbid Angel to EH's Monstrosity.