Beginning life together in 2004 as BLACK AGE, half of this quartet would record a demo and album with said band before changing names to DEFICIENCY. Vocalist/ guitarist Laurent Gisonna and drummer Anthony Thomas would gain a new bassist Vianney Habert in 2010, record their debut full length "State of Disillusion" a year later and then gain their newest guitarist Jérôme Meichelback in 2012, setting the stage for this follow up "The Prodigal Child". Now that you've been brought up to speed on the background, let's delve into the music and songwriting foundation for this French Thrash quartet, shall we?

Thanks to the blockbuster international success of GOJIRA, it really shouldn't be a surprise that a lot of domestic acts are spreading their wings in terms of combining tried and true styles with a more aggressive, extreme bulldozer mentality, be it in terms of musical attack or production techniques. DEFICIENCY overall enjoy a lot of the Bay Area sound, but combine the nuances of Thrash with a solid, melodic Power/Groove element present in acts such as MACHINE HEAD or SOILWORK through their discographies. Expect strong neo-classical oriented lead breaks from Laurent right out of the gate on the title cut that shows he's studied a lot of Kirk Hammett and any number of brilliant MEGADETH guitarists like Chris Poland or Marty Friedman.

A lot of the songwriting for this 10 song effort aligns with longer instrumental passages, harkening back to the older days of METALLICA where an arrangement set up may include a couple of riffs before kicking into the main verses - check out "A Prospect of Traveling Beyond" or the quieter clean/heavy transitions for the 7:27 instrumental "A Way Out of Nowhere" for some magnificent off-time work and dual jackhammer guitar lines that scream classic Melodic Thrash metal. Vocally the band employ more of a rough, screaming type of delivery, more in line with SEPULTURA or SOILWORK and I think it's an area that could be improved upon in future recordings - as their exemplary musical ability outshines this aspect of their performances.

The rhythm section has a little get up and go in the progressive/groove ratio realm, especially within personal highlight "Those Who Behold" - cutting measures in half time for a slightly doomy feel and then just pumping the lead break up with this solid Power/ Thrash energy. At 62 minutes there is plenty to take in for DEFICIENCY on this second album - and to me they have a solid foundation to gain a great following for those into more than the standard Thrash/ Groove bands coming down the pike.