#39 Flork Reviews: Insanity in Scarlet - Prologue to Madness (2022)

Insanity in Scarlet – Prologue to Madness (2022)

By Flork

 

I don’t mean any disrespect to Slight Lie, but I think the guitarist from the eastern Slovak group should make this solo project his main focus. Prologue to Madness is Demo’s debut full-length release of original compositions, which he describes as “old school thrash death power metal oriented”. So true, and couldn’t be described any better.

It’s apparent from the outset that talent abounds and not just in the skill of the instruments, but also in the vocals and vocal harmonies. I’m not sure whether Demo is actually singing or not, since no musicians or vocalists are credited, but one thing for sure is that the singing and depths of whoever’s voice is heard is top-notch and mostly intelligible, since all the tracks are also sung in English. Songs like Monster, Blood, and Echo all stand out as instant classics with cool melodies and even cooler choruses. It’s like taking old Alice Cooper and revving it up a few thousand decibels. Or even still, think of doom or black metal but with a positive vibe. I mean, the energy gets better and stronger as each track moves from one to the next. This is the ‘old school’ that Demo describes above, when thrash and death metal were genres full of shock and life, times when it was not just fun, but ok to be ‘happy crazy’. Nowadays, negativity dominates over the dark metal genres where everything is a serious matter, leaving no room for any amount of optimism. Demo revives those old days and beginnings and masters the craft beautifully. Take Stranger, for example, a fast and catchy tune that’s kinda reminiscent of early WASP. The entire album was written, recorded, and mixed by Demo himself.

Although there are 10 tracks listed on the album, there are actually only 5 compositions on Prologue to Madness. The other 5 tracks are either smoke or piss breaks, mere background noises with no meaning or purpose, or shorter instrumentals like Escape or Nowhere that for some reason or another never progressed further. No matter, it’s all good in the end and Prologue to Madness will satiate any metalhead’s hunger for cool music and originality.