Prosperina – Flag – Album review

Prosperina have been around for a while now, and like a fine wine they just keep improving, they play heavy, loud powerful driven rock with some really nice groves underneath it and some great vocal melodies on top of it. They’re a live favourite of mine too and they have no problem generating all that noise and power live, and it generates quite an atmosphere in a. Their newest album “Flag” came out last week the singles that preceded it were up to and arguably beyond their usual impeccably high standards so I was looking forward to this album as I cranked the volume nice and loud and hit play, after all, this isn’t the kind of music you play quietly.

The opening track of the album “Deep Never” sets the tone nicely with a heavy guitar riff that sort of slinks and weaves its way around a nice drum groove, its a slow and atmospheric opener that still has plenty of power to it as it builds nicely to a powerful chorus that drives the song on more as the vocal melody soars over the top its a good tone setting opener this and I can see why it was also a single, its dark and heavy but big an powerful too, if you’ve listened to Prosperina before – and if your a heavy rock fan you really should have – you know what to expect and this is it.

After an abrupt stop of an ending a rather tasty drum groove leads us in to the second tune “A New Cold” it flows really nicely from the opening track and I’m already imagining how great this is gonna sound cranked loud and live through a massive PA. Those heavy ass guitars tease us in to the opening riff nicely, I really like how this tune builds and then the guitars ease off nicely to let a catchy vocal melody shine for a bit, nice work on the dynamics boys, really good stuff. As the guitars come in and out theres a feeling of a sense of urgency building in this tune, its a long one, clocking in at 7 and a half minutes but it really doesn’t feel like its that long at all, which can only be a sign of good song writing if you ask me – and you’re reading this so you kinda did. This tune builds nicely and then builds some more the last minute or so sounds absolutely massive!

“Art Nouveau” is the third track on the album and is a really nice contrast, its still big and fat sounding but has a bit more groove and bounce to it, they’ve upped the tempo a bit on this one as well. I can see this one being a live favourite, its a good foot taping tempo, has a good melody and drives forward at a good pace

Track 4 “Drunk on the Blood of Tokyo” pummels its way in to your ears with a heavy as balls noisy intro, they’re keeping the energy up with this one too, its probably the catchiest chorus yet as well, its a simple vocal melody but they always work the best. I think this may be my favourite track so far, a really good blend of heavy as f**k, but catchy at the same time really liking this one guys.

Next up is another one of the singles “Boot” its an absolute stomper of a tune, literally, the main riff is locked in with a pounding drum groove whilst other guitar parts swirl around it and the vocals sound as atmospheric as ever whilst being delivered with punch and power, this song is all about relentlessly pounding along to a marching rhythm that really gives it a powerful feel

The title track of the album “Flag” is up next its a long building brooding intro with some nice little guitar touches, there’s a lot of subtle things going on here that layer up to something really good, I don’t know how many layers of guitar are actually on this tune but it sounds like a lot and it generates a hell of an atmosphere. Again as is Prosperina’s trademark its big and powerful and has those vocals dripping in delays and reverbs flying over the top

The penultimate track of the album “Runner in the Maze” mixes the feel up a bit again as they up the tempo a bit and get a bit more groovy, its still that atmospheric heavy style you’d expect but with a bit more energy and groove to it. Not that they lack that normally, this is just faster and a bit more “riff and groove” if you know what I mean, this might have sneaked in as my new favourite, its a good sign of an album that though, when you struggle to pick your favourite. There’s a really nice drop out bit in this where the drum and bass groove stands out a bit more and the guitars build nicely to bring one more big ass chorus in before the end of the song.

Perhentian Storm is the last track of the album, it feels like a good way to end, it crashes in with more of those massive sounding guitars and then drops in to a much simpler feeling groove for the verses that flows along really nicely with the vocals sitting really well on top, and again they’re working the dynamics really well, its great vocal melody too. This is a great final track that sums up what this album is about, atmospheric, loud powerful driven guitars, those soaring vocals and great pounding drum grooves.

This a great collection of heavy powerful rock tunes, its dark and atmospheric at points, its energetic and driven at other points and they work the dynamics really well. If that sounds like your kind of thing then stop messing about and give it a listen

Listen to Flag Online:
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