Confrontations

The country of Portugal, sure is well known for its explorers spreading their arms across the globe, but have they aptly explored the art of heavy metal? Prayers Of Sanity, is a straight up thrash metal band from Portugal, formed in 2007. They have released a demo album, followed by a full length and now have decided to raise the bars a notch higher by releasing another full length album, namely, "Confrontations". The lyrical themes mainly emphasize on religion and politics throughout the album.

The album starts off with the the first track, namely, "Confrontations" sending a rush of nostalgia to the 80s thrash metal fans through the intro. The song is well layered with some great drumming, typical thrash riffs, commendable bass lines and a mammoth sized shred solo which will leave you in awe. The song is also structured well enough to surprise you. The album then moves onto the next track, "Too Much To Handle" which will make you start wondering whether this is just another one of those bands that play the stereotypical thrash metal or not. Ultimately, a pretty mediocre track.

If you were looking out for some diversity in the music, I'd suggest you skip through to the fifth track, "Inside 4 Walls". If you're a die hard thrash metal fan who wants to just hear some old school brutality, then go ahead with the whole album. Inside 4 Walls is a slow song with totally different vocals blending with beautiful riffs. This song saves the album from a dismal performance in terms of diversity.

The record lives up to what the band promised it to be. Total revival of the fast, brutal, and moshtastic 80s thrash metal. The band has unanimously put in effort throughout the album. Be it the great soloing by Angelo in songs like, "Confrontations", "To Kill Or To Be Killed", and "End Of It All" or the noticeably great bass lines by Carlos in "Acid 51", all the members have done a great job to put this through as a team. But, the main stand out performance was by the vocalist, Tiao Costa who has one of the best snarls, and thrash metal screams around, in my opinion, which can be noticed in songs like, "Confrontations", "Acid 51", "Dehumanizer" and "Dark Passenger". Personally, Confrontations is one of my favorite thrash metal songs so kudos to that. The drummer, Bruno Santos has done a fabulous and consistent job throughout the album and plays a big role in making the album the clear cut thrash piece it is.

The band never promised a wide range of metal so I wont deduct a lot of points for lack of diversity, and on the other hand it has successfully lived up to what it was supposed to be, with a tinge of a speed-breaker too! So if you're a thrasher, go for this brutal album! But if you're looking for diversity, maybe you're looking for too much out there! I hope to see something more diverse from this band as I'm already one of their fans!