Prayer for the Dying

Every now and then a band comes along that contributes to metal not by providing something that can be considered original, but instead by doing some maintenance work on it to keep it from getting too structurally unsound. In many respects, German power metal was probably the most in need of some renovation at around 2002 with the stigma of being an “all melody and keyboards, but no hard edge” combination of Arena Oriented Rock and speed metal. “Messiah’s Kiss” essentially took all of the better elements of early Running Wild, Helloween, and some of the many newer, Judas Priest-like power metal acts in Germany and repackaged it into something much heavier and more guitar oriented.

“Prayer for the Dying” carries a title that obviously will bring about comparisons to the early 90s Iron Maiden album with a similar name, but the unapologetic power metal influences on full display make this, along with several song titles already claimed by heavy metal forefathers such as Dio and Manowar, a non-issue. The songs are well packaged, riff happy bruisers with all of the necessary trimmings to sate the appetite of the staunchest of Rage and Accept fans. Not to mention that the vocal approach of American front man and now former Riot session vocalist Mike Tirelli is essentially a perfect blend of both classic German power metal acts’ unique singers.

From start to finish, this entire opus is oozing with great moments reminiscent of mid-80s and late 90s power metal, all of which are perfectly molded together into one cohesive package. “Light in the Black” is something of a dead ringer for the Primal Fear hit of one year before “Angel in Black”, although the vocal approach is twice as aggressive. The principle riff of “Blood, Sweat and Tears” screams early 80s Riot and Iron Maiden, while the pacing is similar to Iron Savior’s upper mid tempo work on “Unification”. The closest thing to a ballad on here is “When Night comes down”, which is only content to stay subdued for a minute or so before blasting out a brilliant homage to early 80s Accept.

Anyone wanting to know the highlights of this album would be hard pressed not to sit through a rehash of the entire album, because this consistently kicks ass all the way through. If you want some solid, ball busting Painkiller worship, check out “Mortal Sin” and picture Udo singing it instead of Halford. People who like catchy guitar melodies and a little taste of Wasp to complement the Iron Maiden goodness should listen to “Final Warning”. And anyone who needs a good dose of Manowar style speed metal glory and triumph with a pipe organ intro, “Blood of the Kings” is the song to hear. You can actually pick out bits and pieces of the Manowar song of the same name, as well as parts of “Black Wind, Fire, and Steel” and “The Power of my Sword” in this towering, 7 minute plus speed metal epic.

If you like the harder edged, almost 100% keyboard free brand of German power metal, this is definitely a keeper. Anyone who enjoys rough and rugged speed metal albums like Nocturnal Rites’ “Afterlife”, most of the Mystic Prophecy catalog, and early Firewind would also do well to check these guys out. It is quite unfortunate that this band doesn’t have a larger following, because they definitely would be worthy of one. In a time when power metal was starting to fall from its peak, bands like Messiah’s Kiss rose out and gave us another excuse to worship the older school of magic. So if you haven’t heard these guys yet and you like any of the bands mentioned, give them a chance.