Since its very beginning, the Brazilian thrash metal band Prophecy has written songs following what is today known as Bay Area Thrash Metal. The band has been influenced mainly by the San Francisco thrashers Exodus and Testament. This is not to say, however, that these are their only influences, as you will notice elements of Metallica, Vio-lence, Forbidden, Defiance, Anthrax, among others. By exploring each instrument, Prophecy has been able to mix the right degree of aggression with the right degree of technique. However, the main element that makes Prophecy stand out, if we take the contemporary metal scene into account, is the quality of the vocals. Most bands in the metal scene nowadays follow two trends when it comes to vocals: it’s either melodic lacking aggression or it’s aggressive but with no melody to it. Prophecy’s vocalist Rogério Avlis mixes aggression with melody, like experienced vocalists of the Bay Area thrash scene, such as Chuck Billy and James Hetfield. Despite releasing its first album in 2008, Prophecy’s history goes way back to the 80’s. It was actually formed in 1985, and firstly named “Bíblia Negra”. At that time, the band composed songs that already showed a thrash metal direction, but such songs were composed in Portuguese. They changed their name to Prophecy in 1990, and started, naturally, to sing in English. The first demo-tape under the name of Prophecy was released in 1991, and was named “Dust Inheritance”. Such demo-tape contained four songs, one of which was a new version for the 1987 song “Falsos Profetas”, now called “Lying Prophets”. The demo-tape reached acclaim with both public and critics in the national heavy metal scene, being very positively reviewed in the widely-recognised Brazilian magazine “Rock Brigade”. Nevertheless, the band was to face a problem that plagued it since time immemorial, line-up changes. Prophecy was forced to become inactive at times. From 1992 to 1997, the band went through many line-up changes, and was able to perform in small venues. However, it was only in 1997 that the band became fully active again. The band started to take off once more, and was invited to be the supporting act for Exodus, who was touring the world after a successful comeback with legendary vocalist Paul Baloff. The gig took place in 1999 in the traditional club Garage, in Rio de Janeiro. In the same year, Prophecy went on studio to record a new demo, which would contain 8 songs. But, the old problem that had plagued the band would strike again, and the recording sessions were cancelled for some time. The demo, entitled “Techniques of Violence”, was eventually released in 2000. Once again, the public received it very favourably. After some years with occasional comebacks, a new and definitive line-up gathered in the year of 2006. The “2006 Demo” was then recorded, and distributed to the public for free during gigs. Due to this initiative, Prophecy became quickly recognised and acclaimed in the underground heavy metal scene in Rio de Janeiro. There were more demands for the band to play in different venues, where they delivered electrifying performances, once and for all conquering the public from Rio. Prophecy went on studio again to record its long awaited debut. The recording took a long time, given the demands of the band, who did not want to release just an average album. The album, entitled “Legions of Violence”, has been released by Morbid Tales Records, and has 11 songs, containing new material and also old songs that have been reshaped. This material is usually played in concerts, and meets with total approval of the public. As live performances were mentioned, there is a number of important gigs in the years of 2007 and 2008. In 2007, Prophecy was invited to be the supporting act for legendary Brazilian thrash band Korzus, in Rio de Janeiro. The gig went down well with the public, and the following of the band became even bigger. In 2008, Prophecy took part in the regional and national finals of the Wacken Open Air Metal Battle. The band played the Rio de Janeiro final in Clube Mackenzie, and was chosen to represent the city in the national final. The national final was played in the famous Manifesto Bar, in São Paulo, and Prophecy delivered a performance that received very positive reviews. The magazine “Roadie Crew”, which organised the event, claims that members of the famed American band Queensrychë had been in the venue, and that they particularly pointed out three bands that stood out; one of the three was Prophecy. Prophecy, whose present line-up is Rogério Avlis (guitar and vocals), Leandro Pimenta (guitar), Amaury Garcia (bass) and Mr. Kholl (drums), now seeks to increase its following and keep delivering electrifying live performances around the world. Some songs for the second album are already written, so, they also have plans of going back on studio to record another killing album.

Source : http://www.myspace.com/prophecythrash