I remember checking out the multiple EPs put out by South Carolina's Horror themed Heavy Metallers PROWLER more than a year ago in order to do an interview with them for another site. With just only few songs on offer then, it still was evident what PROWLER was trying to achieve there, and again now in 2015 they are back with their debut full length album, releasing this July 19^th.

"From The Shadows" is a very strong album, as in every song packs in enough meat in it to keep the listener hooked, offering what's expected of it and more. Every song follows similar patterns like starting and ending with a short story passage giving more flavor and variety that the genre very much promises its listener. The music is very much of a familiar old school traditional Heavy Metal sound that the band promises as every song is filled with ear piercing sharp riffs almost giving a lube for your neck to headbang along, and not to mention the rightly timed cheesy solos like in "Out Of The Fog". The mild and nasty growling vocals by Patrick Best is excellent and works great for the band keeping the 80's feel intact, but I feel the sound volume of his vocals is tad low leading to a slight disappointment for me, but everything else here is nothing short of bliss. Jak Sumwalt drives the rhythm in "The Thing Not Seen" as the song chugs along in mid-tempo mode heavily depending on the riffs by Patrick Best. The band throws in an excellent cover of "Pet Sematary" by THE RAMONES turning into another Heavy Metal anthem in their style.

With every song having a story passage going on in its beginning and ending, the album rushes through some of famous John Carpenter's films from the 80's and anybody who is a 80's Horror movies fan will know what I'm talking about. Even the artwork has a real eerie touch to it. The album ends with a 6 min song in "Creature Of The Black" churning out another riff anthem and still managing to monotony away.
The only thing generic factor about PROWLER is its name, because the music is a breath of fresh air in the niche segment of Horror Heavy Metal, even as the band only is blasting traditional 80's Heavy Metal. The sharp eerie riffs make a huge difference due to the lyrical themes and it works wonders for this debut album of the boys. Almost bull's eye.