Thunderlip The Prophecy

In keeping with their twist on the ’70s big rock revival, Thunderlip’s sophomore album, The Prophecy, finds this collection of hirsute hard rockers borrowing heavily from the Me Generation’s fuzzy guitar and reverberating drum style. The likes of KISS, Thin Lizzy and Black Sabbath rear their ugly heads once again in a sludgy mixture of high-energy boogie groove. The band do make headway though, as elements of glam, Judas Priest and Mötley Crüe all make appearances on The Prophecy before slipping into a quite competent cover of Deep Purple’s "Highway Star.” Unsurprising, this homage is a no-brainer given Thunderlip’s penchant for duelling lead guitars, harmonies and simplistic bass lines. It all works well together and The Prophecy winds up feeling like the slightly shorter brother to Valient Thorr’s gend Of The World, an effort with a touch more pelvic gusto and slimy grit. Still, the band could truly benefit from paring tracks down by a minute or two. Each song hits the four-minute mark and redundancy sets in, lessening the overall impact. After all, it’s not Allman Brothers they’re trying to convey but AC/DC, and that means sharp, short and sweet. (Lucid)