Album Review: "Eternal Oblivion" by Moonlight Prophecy

Yngwie Malmsteen may have popularized the genre of the neoclassical guitar shred fest, but he wasn't the last guitarist to ascend to such lofty heights.
Malmsteen was Swedish, which should come as a surprise no one familiar with that country's uncanny ability to produce legendary rock musicians.  However, the latest in the line of six string wizard's is Philadelphia's own Lawrence Wallace.  Wallace's latest project is one man band Moonlight Prophecy.
Wallace seamlessly blends classical music inspired guitar playing with the aggressive melodies of modern thrash metal with stunning results. This is what I imagine it would sound like if Dragonforce's Herman Li joined Testament. Blazing melodic solos over aggressive thrash metal riffs.

The EP is a mere three songs, but what "Eternal Oblivion" lacks in length it makes up for in intensity and shear epic power.

Moonlight Prophecy's Lawrence Wallace

The album opens with the bombastic "Spellbound", showcasing guitar techniques and intricacies generally only reserved for the masters.   "Spellbound" contains a solid song structure and devotion to melody which instantly proves the album is not just a collection of guitar parlor tricks, but rather is solid set of songs.

The title track "Eternal Oblivion" stands apart as it contains vocals, indicating Wallace's ability at traditional song crafting, in addition to pure shredding.  It also illustrates his mastery of drums and bass guitar.

The third song "Witch Hunt" is an instrumental masterpiece.  After the first listen, I immediately hit repeat and gave it a second go at twice the volume.  If ever the need should arise to run through a brick wall, this is the song I would pick to empower me to do so. 

Moonlight Prophecy would make an excellent entry into the collection of any guitar aficionado, and perhaps one day we will see Wallace sharing the stage with his predecessors Blackmore, Malmsteen, Satriani, Vai or Li.

Moonlight Prophecy Facebook

Moonlight Prophecy website


Release date:  April 15, 2017
Label:  Self released
Genre:  Neoclassical Thrash