666sharon666 It's been a while since I last wrote a review. I enjoy writing them but finding time in the day can be hard sometimes. For the debut album Prey for the Future by US act Dark Design I decided that it was worth making time to say a few words. There are two reasons for this but the only one that matters is that this is an album worth talking about. The other? Well let's just say that the album has received some criticisms that I think are unfair that I wanted to address.

First off I want to talk about the genre of the album. Dark Design draws on several styles of metal music but the most common elements of their sound are US style power metal and thrash metal, wrapped up in a blanket of progressive and technical touches and an old school sound production. Some may say the sound is raw or low budget and perhaps it is, it doesn't matter because Prey for the Future is one of those albums that would lose some of its charm had it been polished up to modern major label standards and it is very far from having a bad sound. To me the only part that sounds raw is actually the very first metal part of the album. The band starts up with a treble riff in the self-titled song Dark Design and this bit does actually sound like it perhaps belongs more in a black metal act, but fortunately this isn't a trend on Prey for the Future and the song quickly picks up into a great USPM track. People who think this album is raw are clearly spoilt by modern production values and cannot appreciate something that is a bit rough around the edges. If that describes you then seriously, this isn't an album for you.

Dark Design's musicianship is excellent. Although relatively song based with an average track running time of over five minutes, they seem to cram a lot into the songs including technical guitar lines and soft sections. I also like that you can clearly hear the bass and how it is used for effect in the songs to add to the proggy flavour. The guitarists throw in lots of melodic lead playing during the instrumental breaks, with the riffs USPM and thrash metal style alike are heavy and awesome. At times Dark Design remind me a more technical Iced Earth.

Something that is interesting to note is that Dark Design's singer Andrew Bertrand has been involved in metal bands previously, but as a drummer. Well I for one am glad this man came out from behind the kit, as his performance really makes the album complete. By power metal standards this guy isn't ever going to be up to Michael Kiske levels but since the power metal on Prey for the Future is USPM rather than the European version that Kiske's old band Helloween are widely regarded to have started, that hardly matters. His singing is ballsy but not lacking a melodic aspect and is just right for an aggressive power-thrash sound like Dark Design's. At times he also throws in some growls, like in Abiding Contempt.

The songs themselves vary in their directions. Some are dominate on USPM and this is clearly the main genre of the album overall. But you also get tracks like the excellent Dragonmount which is obviously very much a thrash metal song. Then there is also Spice World which is the longest track and I think the also most progressive, featuring an oriental melody. To conclude the album (the physical version anyway) the band round things off with a cover of Dust in the Wind, originally by progressive rock band Kansas, appearing on their 1977 album Point of Know Return. Dark Design are quite a different band to Kansas and their cover is more in keeping with their own style, that is to say, they made a metal song out of it. It's noticeably more catchy than Dark Design's aggressive standards, but they make it work, surprisingly well even.

A brilliant debut album of old school metal, I know that Dark Design and Prey for the Future will be ranking very highly when I make my end of year best of list.

98%

Original post here: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/dark-design-prey-for-the-future-t3206.html

adg211288 Prey for the Future (2013) is the debut full-length album by US metal act Dark Design. There's actually also a Swedish metal act going around with the same name who released the album Time is an Illusion (2011), but although they may have beaten the US Dark Design in releasing a full-length, this band pre-dates their formation by a couple of years and previously released a demo in 2010. Prey for the Future's CD version comes with an extra track, Dust in the Wind, not available on the digital download which is actually released a little earlier than the CD.

As a reviewer I get a lot of albums to listen to, and although being impartial is crucial in this business, every so often an album comes along that kicks my arse so hard that everything else has to be put on the back-burner to make sure it gets covered ASAP. Dark Design's Prey for the Future is one such album. Playing a progressive and technical form of the power-thrash hybrid genre, with mostly clean but still quite edgy singing over the top while forgoing the keyboards of European power metal in favour of a strictly guitar driven sound, Prey for the Future is an absolute beast of an album which will at first lull you into a false sense of security with its acoustic instrumental intro In Media Res before the band hurtles into a self-titled song (band name, not album title) and refuses to let the listener go until, almost fifty minutes later, the album comes to a close, seemingly still with energy and aggression to spare. Prey for the Future is one of the most relentless albums I've heard all year in this sense.

In a sense though there's not much that can be said about an album like this, on account of words really aren't going to do it the slightest bit of justice. Although you can discount the intro track, everything else here is easily a contender for my favourite song from the album, although I do admit to being extra partial to the killer No Death and the lengthy Spice World. The musicianship and vocals are both top notch. The guitar playing is often technical and the bass can often be heard quite prominently. Melodic aspects don't go ignored though with great lead guitar lines and clean/acoustic sections cropping up. In short it has all the best bits of power metal, thrash metal and progressive metal rolled together in about equal measure, and the result is as out of this world as that sci-fi cover art!

When I started reviewing 2013 albums, the first one I turned my attention to happened to end up being really highly rated and has actually been sitting at the top of my 2013 list ever since. I was beginning to think it would be there all year now but Dark Design are the band who have upset it and have gone storming into the Album of the Year position, something that Preying for the Future claimed for them after a single listen (and further listens have further strengthened the claim). A perfect rating is deserved.

100/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/dark-design-preying-for-the-future-t3149.html)