Barbarian Prophecies - Among Us

Bit of a rushed one this week as technical issues are plaguing us again. Yep. Today's scheduled pick didn't save correctly, apparently, and I'm on the road again, so much like this previous pick, I've lined up whatever CDs I have to hand and thrown a dart (which this time was actually a small orange originally intended for my lunch) to see where it lands and come up with something off the cuff. Trusting nothing but the gods of fate and my impeccable taste in music to deliver this week's inspiration.

And oh yes, it's landed on an absolute banger, folks!

Barbarian Prophecies are a Spanish death metal band hailing from Lugo, Galicia, and they've been in the game for a while, with roots going all the way back to 2000. They're as aggressive as the name suggests. So if you're in the mood for something angry and loud to cap off your week, well, we've got you well and truly covered.

Spanish metal has a habit of going one of two ways.  It's either toe-tappingly soft, all 80s hair and Sunset Strip swagger with a mix of punk and goth thrown in for good measure, or absolutely ball-kickingly heavy. I'm pleased to say that Barbarian Prophecies are very firmly, unapologetically in the latter camp. There's a speed and flair to what they do that calls to mind Children of Bodom at their most frantic, but make no mistake, the roots here are planted deep in traditional death and doom ... this isn't flash for flash's sake, it's controlled chaos with a backbone of pure filth.

I had the good fortune of catching these guys live at a local festival a couple of years back, and they were, hands down, the standout act of the day. I picked up the album afterwards and excitedly skipped home (okay, staggered) and had it on repeat for weeks. It's that good.

Today's pick is Among Us, taken from that aforementioned fourth album, Horizon, and there you have it, A brutally efficient, scientifically rigorous selection process involving precisely one piece of fruit, a moving vehicle, and a complete disregard for personal safety. And yet, somehow, it's struck gold. At this point I have to seriously question whether my own judgement has been doing more harm than good all along. Maybe the orange knew something I didn't. Maybe the orange has always known. Either way, I think we've stumbled onto something here ... a new, fully sustainable, citrus-powered approach to music journalism, and frankly, I'm not sure I can go back. Watch this space; my future picks may now be determined entirely by whatever's left in the office fridge and how accurate my throwing arm is feeling that day.  Or maybe I just need to sleep.