Kicked In The Face - Short. Honest. Unhindered by popular opinion Kickedintheface.com - Metal reviews and opinions

Metal Reviews testimonials Go here to discuss this review

Throne Of Chaos - Menace And Prayer
2000 Spikefarm Records
 Throne Of Chaos - Menace And Prayer

Track Listing:
1.  From Clarity To Insanity
2.  The Scaffold Scenario
3.  Cold Bits Of Fire
4.  Bloodstained Prophecy
5.  Menace And Prayer
6.  Synthetia
7.  Opus Void
8.  Divanity

Line-Up:
Vocals:  Taneli Kiljunen
Guitars:  Taneli Kiljunen, Joiku Harmaja
Bass:  Rasmus Nora
Drums:  Snake Laitinen
Keyboards:  Carl Sjöblom

Website:  www.tocrocks.com

Follow The Hollow's Rating:  B+
Average Album Rating:  B+

Follow The Hollow's Review:
 Formed in the mid nineties, Throne of Chaos (also known as TOC) have been dubbed "Children Of Bodom's Kid Brother".  And rightfully so; they play the same kind of music, and hail from the same area as Bodom.  After a couple demos, the band released "Menace and Prayer".  The album was highly successful, and for a lot of reasons; it had everything people came to expect from the genre known as "Heavy Black", guitar harmonies, a slight neo-classical feel, in-your-face vocals (not referring to the COB album), and powerful drumming.

However, for the release of their next album, "Pervertigo", TOC decided to spice things up.  The band tried to combine many types of metal into one album.  All they really succeeded in doing was alienated their main fan base.  But they didn't seem to notice, and released their final record, "Loss Angeles" was even stranger.  Combining "several pints of progressive metal and elements of rock, and mixing those with a couple of ounces of power-ish vocals and even small splashes of nightclub jazz".  TOC called it quits in 2005, much to the relief of the metal world, who wouldn't have wanted to see if TOC would try Hip-Hop on their next album.  Fans of Children Of Bodom, Norther, Kalmah, etc. should definitely try to track down "Menace and Prayer" (I wouldn't recommend Pervertigo or Loss Angeles), because it will not disappoint.

  1. From Clarity To Insanity - A good opening for an album, gives a good feel of what to expect.  This song has your typical guitar leads, keyboards, and rough vocals.  It would be a mediocre song if the drumming wasn't so brilliant.  Listen to this song a couple of times to fully appreciate everything that is going on, because it's like a symphony.  The song clocks in at 4:54, and gets repetitive near the end.  A-

  2. The Scaffold Scenario - The intro to this song hints at being a sleeper, but around 0:30, everything starts to take shape.  The guitars in this song are raw and fulfilling; there's only ever two guitars, even when one or both are playing leads.  This works a lot better, and you're not constantly bombarded with sounds.  At 2:38, another example of great drumming by Snake Laitinen.  However, at 3:04, the vocalist decides he doesn't want to scream anymore, and tries singing.  Stick to the grunts, buddy.  B+

  3. Cold Bits Of Fire - If you take out the keyboard in the intro, this song sounds like it could be taken off of a Dream Evil song.  The verse is nothing spectacular, but then, a well executed key change brings the song a part resembling speed metal.  Although this song does have a lot of very cool different parts, you could skip about thirty seconds and you'd swear you were in another song.  B-

  4. Bloodstained Prophecy - Starts out alright, building momentum, but then that momentum is lost when all other instruments magically disappear except one lone guitar.  But the song starts back up again, into a forgettable verse, and a forgettable chorus that I only remembered because it sounded an awful lot like, "Embody the Invisible".  I grew bored of this song and skipped near the end of the song, at 4:03, where there's the first guitar solo on the album.  And, again, it is a forgettable solo.  B-

  5. Menace And Prayer - The main melody in this song reminds me of an old video game for Sega Genesis.  But back to the song.  Being the title track, one wouldn't expect this to be a bad song, and it's not.  It even reminds me of "Deadnight Warrior".  Maybe they really are Children Of Bodom's kid brother...  A-

  6. Synthetia - Least favorite song on the album.  There is once again a guitar solo on this album, but it's pathetic, really.  They'll always be "Kid brother's" unless they can learn to shred.  C

  7. Opus Void - A boring song.  A boring intro.  Maybe the only thing worth listening to is at 1:12.  What is that anyways?  It sounds like an old man wheezing.  Only at 1:15 do you realize it was the vocalist trying something new.  See last sentence of "The Scaffold Scenario".  C

  8. Divanity - After listening to two boring songs in a row, do you really want to keep listening?  Probably not.  But those of you who do, would be glad you did.  Divanity is probably my favorite song on the album.  And that's saying a lot, because it kept me listening to the whole song (I am just short of having A.D.D.), the song being slightly over six minutes.  Around 4:38, the song shifts into a slower gear, and brings to mind early Dimmu Borgir.  If you're not a big fan, then skip to the end.  But I like it, a kind of somber ending to the only good TOC album ever.  A

Follow The Hollow's Rating:  B+

Discography (last updated 2.10.06):
Equilibrium demo - 1996
Fata Morgana EP - 1997
Menace And Prayer - 2000
Pervertigo - 2002
Loss Angeles - 2003