After hearing their way-above-par 2001 demo and doing a subsequent interview, I have really been rooting for The Prowlers. With having lots of "the goods" and being cool as hell to chat with, how could I not? Well, these guys have not disappointed me in the least with their Steelborn debut. In fact, they've gone beyond my expectations in making a near unblemished record. All you have to do is merely like metal and the bands winning blend of NWOBHM melodies, 80's toughness, today's speedy pacing, and glimpses of progressive intuitions will hook you straight away."Souls Thieves" is not a re-invention, but instead a very clear-minded focus on honing an established style. The thicker sound from the past has been tempered, allowing the crisp and hard-hitting production to illustrate the bands individual skills within a very catchy song format. Guttural grunts and ludicrous highs are about the only areas Fabio Minchillo doesn't venture into (thank you). His controlled versatility is welcome to these ears. "Napo" and "The Eldar" should be proud of themselves, flinging around bountiful Lizzy/Maiden reminiscent guitar harmonies with such ease. As for the backbone, "Dr. K" skinswork is sharper and more varied than ever, and new man Allessandro Vincis breaks today's trend by bringing back a Steve Harris-level of bass magic. Instead of merely blending into the background with a non-descript low-end pulse, Vincis can be clearly heard going off (and doing it SOOO well) while still keeping the foundation tight. Sharp already, these 5 are really firing now- Look out!!

Now for the songs. Well, 4 of them are re-recordings from the 2001 "Descent" demo ("It", "Once Again", "Incubus", and "A Descent Into The Maelstrom"), and by being such are the clearest indicators of the above-documented evolution. The surrounding 6 tracks are of the same quality- Well varied from each other and within the songs themselves (due to their expansive touch), not to mention being packed with potent vocal harmonies. The most unique (and possibly endearing) tune here is the most righteous Ultravox cover "The Voice", a keyboard backed progressive semi-ballad/epic with more vibrancy and gentility than most of its kind. Classy, heavy and powerful from the intro to the last second.

With the exception of the first-rate Desdemona, what I have heard from Steelborn/Northwind records has been solid but not quite top-shelf. However, with the addition of the Prowlers and "Souls Thieves" to their roster, the label is taking a considerable step forward in making themselves that much more renowned/respected. In a short time, "Souls Thieves" has become a personal classic and hopefully those of you reading this will give the band and this disc a chance to do the same for you. The Prowlers have released one of 2003's finest, and intuition tells me that even better things lie ahead musically for this gifted band.

StrutterZine (Holland): (Points: 8.0 out of 10)
Finally a Power Metalband from Italy that isn't sensational. The first 3 songs of the new CD of the band THE PROWLERS are not good, just average Power Metal with weak vocals and absolutely nothing interesting. But then we get to track number 4 "It" and the band suddenly comes up with a catchy uptempo Melodic Metal tune a la LABYRINTH and it sounds pretty good actually. So after a boring start, the CD has something good to offer in the shape of the song "It". After this song, I don't know what to happens, but it seems like I am listening to a different band than on the first couple of tracks, because the vocals sound much better and the music itself is just pure 80s US Power Metal! A song like "Once again" is superb high class 80s US Power Metal a la HEIR APPARENT, LEATHERWOLF... And happily the CD continues in this classy 80s US Power Metal style with some EDGUYish songs as well, and so in the end I can say that this is a good CD after all, although the start was not very promising.

Metal Reviews (Canada): 70 / 100

Italy's The Prowlers originally started out as an Iron Maiden tribute band and still do Maiden tribute shows now and then. They eventually started writing their own material, releasing three demo recordings, The Prowlers (1999), A Descent Into The Maelstrom (mini CD - 2001) and Souls Thieves (2002). The latter eventually catching the attention of the Northwind/Steelborn label which signed them. This album is the band's first full-length album.

Unlike many other Italian power metal bands, The Prowlers is not symphonic and speedy and there's only 1 track that has anything to do with dragons (that's a refreshing change!!). Instead, the band offers up an interesting slice of solid Helloween and Iron Maiden influenced heavy metal. Many of the tracks have an Iron Maiden tone to them and lead vocalist Fabio Minchillo can do both Bruce Dickinson and Paul Di'anno styles of vocal delivery. Some of the more rawer and reckless sounding tracks really bring the listener back to the early days of Iron Maiden, especially the first 2 albums. The track Memories, with it's older Maiden sound and Dave Murray style lead guitar is a prime example of that aspect of the band's sound. The band uses lots of tempo changes and many thematic riff interludes with lots of harmony leads. Many tracks wander into many different styles, varying from fast to slow then fast again, using a fair amount of instrumental passages. This certainly is not a boring band to listen to. The Prowlers maintain a dramatic sense to most of their music with some of it having a more progressive edge. Slow pounding heavy segments often are shattered by very quick and abrupt tempo changes usually consisting of very fast backing rhythms accompanying very fast shredding lead guitar. Once Again cycles around three different riffs and is another great dramatic song with some killer riff breaks. The track Decent Into The Maelstrom even has a Mercyful Fate style of abstract guitar riffing with an older Queensryche atmosphere. A real treat is an ultra-cool cover version of Ultravox's The Voice from their Rage In Eden album. They manage to keep the original spirit of the track but spice it up with speedy and fast drumming and big fat power chord guitar. A stunning version of the classic 80's song

Musically, with the arrangements, performance and structure of the songs, this band is very, very good and shows lots of potential. Lead vocalist Fabio Minchillo does a decent job but his voice sounds very strained at times. The choruses to the songs are fair but none really stand out. His overall vocal delivery style is something that needs work as well. He has all the tools as far as range and power in his voice, it's just that the very high quality of the music from this band demands that he step it up a notch to complement the band's sound. As far as great tempo changes, excellent dramatic riff breaks and overall excellence in style and sound, this band is top notch. The one thing that they need is a stronger vocal performance and stronger lyrical structure to their songs. I'm not sure if it's the language barrier (all songs are in English) or what, but to me, it's what is preventing The Prowlers from achieving their full potential. I'd very much like to hear more from these guys in the future as with improvements in the aforementioned areas, great things could be possible from this band.

Killing Songs :Memories, Once Again and The Voice. Marty.

Lords of Metal (Holland): 85/100

After Shining Fury, the debut album of The Prowlers is the second CD of Italian origin that found it’s way to my mailbox this month. A little late I have to say, since the album was already available in October. Well , it does not spoil the fun, because “Souls Thieves” appears to be a power metal album of the highest standards.
Right after the intro “Last Breath”, the album starts with title track “Souls Thieves”. Something that instantly gets attention is the combination of classical power metal, like Iron Maiden or Leatherwolf, combined with modern influences and a killer sound. Still, The Prowlers have a different approach as well, as we can hear in tracks like; “Fight Against The Dragon” and “Incubus”. A love for progressive metal obviously comes to surface there.

It is simple really, “Souls Thieves” is full of great power metal, with tons of melody. Amazing and beautiful twin leads from Stefano D’orazi and Fabio Schirato. Surprising breaks and arrangements, make this a record you have to listen to more then once to hear it’s full potential. The pleasant voice of singer Fabio Minchillo does very well in several regions, so to speak, which makes the album even more varied. Add the (not overdone) technical character of some of the songs and you will understand that this could be an appealing album for lots of people.

You cannot leave out a good “wrapping” and that is were The Prowlers have a problem. The art-work and photography are not spectacular and the band’s website is way too amateur. Thank god, it does not make their music any worse, I only hope the metal masses can look behind that and discover The Prowlers! From Fates Warning to Synergy fans as well as Iron Maiden and Helloween, this album will not dissapoint you. I hope the band will support the release througout stages in Europe, they deserve it.
Ralph
Zware Metalen.com (Holland):

Bij het voor het eerst beluisteren van dit schijfje van het italiaanse The Prowlers kon ik mij de gedachte dat ik naar een Iron Maiden rip off zat te luisteren niet onderdrukken. Nu is dat ook niet zo vreemd als ik op hun website lees dat ze begonnen zijn als Iron Maiden cover band. Maar zoals een degelijk recesensist betaamt gaf ik dit schijfje nog 2 luisterbeurten meer en begon ik langzaam terug te krabbelen van mijn mening dat dit alleen maar krampachtige "Maiden"-metal is.

Nu ben ik niet zo heel erg thuis in de Powermetal, maar ik kan Iron Maiden, Masterplan, Luca Turilli en Kamelot toch best wel een warm hart toe dragen. The Prowlers maken dan ook powermetal.

Bombastisch melodieuze songs dreunen voorbij die bol staan van de gitaarsolos. Goede muzikanten zijn de heren van deze band weldegelijk. De gitaarsolos en basgitaarsolos komen er zeer professioneel uit voor een debuut cd van deze band. Wat mij het meest aan Iron Maiden deed denken waren de vocals. Bij tijd en wijle zijn deze wat van een minder niveau maar over het algeheel zijn ze vrij sterk. Ook word meerstemmigheid niet geschuwd en komt er af en toe een koor om de hoek kijken wat de muziek een majesteuze draai geeft. 10 nummers lang weet deze plaat toch echt wel te boeien en ik kan het niet laten om me te laten vervoeren en zachtjes met het hoofd te "bangen". Qua productie zit het met deze schijf wel goed want drummer Guiseppe Orlando van Novembre heeft hier namelijk aan bijgedragen. Origineel is deze plaat helaas niet maar het klinkt o zo lekker en ik kan deze cd een ieder toch welaanraden voor een luisterbeurt!

The Metal Observer(Germany, USA, Canada): Vote 7,5/10

"Italian Power Metal strikes back" or what? This seems to be the motto of the Italian Metal scene of late, because we get more of this particular sub-genre again, ARTHEMIS, KALEDON and now an absolute newcomer called THE PROWLERS. Apparently hailing from the capital the gentlemen Minchillo, D'Orazi, Schirato, Vincis and Cappabianca have sent a disc our way with "Souls Thieves", where I would advise you to duck, otherwise you might find your head taking a different route than your body…

Ok, that might sound like Death Metal now, getting your head severed etc, but who expects polished, bombastic Metal will quickly be proved otherwise for THE PROWLERS are a lot more down to earth and crunchier, keyboards play, if at all, just a secondary role and also vocally with all melody there is more power and grit in there than with quite some genre colleagues. After the intro "Last Breath" the title track "Souls Thief" comes our way on low level flight, with very melodic lead guitars, intricate drumming, rougher vocals and a very catchy chorus, good start, I would say. A bit more crunch to follow with "Memories" and "It" also sweeps along quite a bit, but taking it down one gear in the chorus, also a good one.

Altogether the Italians seem to like up-tempo, because we get quite a bit of that and they spice it up with elements from the NWoBHM, like guitar harmonies or the very pumping bass, plus tight drumming and often high, but altogether pretty variable and good vocals. With that THE PROWLERS won't win many innovation prizes, but as long as the quality is ok, I have no problem with this and even though not all that glitters is gold yet on "Souls Thieves", the five guys still delivered a decent debut, which has been co-produced by NOVEMBRE's Giuseppe Orlando, which is proved by the strong production.

Besides "Souls Thief" I would recommend "Once Again" with its internal three parts and the "Greensleeves" solo at the end and the strong ULTRAVOX cover version "The Voice", which altogether show the potential of the band and also give you a direction what you should go for. Overall the Italians have a pretty good hand for good melodies this side of the bombast and there also is no real filler on this album, which should also be mentioned.

THE PROWLERS hardly will be the saviours of the genre, but there is hope for the future and if they continue to consequently go their way, then the listenership should also take notice of this band. (Online February 6, 2004) Alex

Dreun.be (Belgium):

The Prowlers … Een heavy metal-band uit Italië. Klinkt veelbelovend? Inderdaad. Met hun debuut ‘Souls Thieves’ mogen ze bij Steelborn Records heel tevreden zijn. Deze band heeft een klasse heavy metal-plaat gemaakt in de trant van Maiden, Steel Prophet e.a. De hele plaat bruist van de 80’s metal-sfeer. The Prowlers proberen het genre hier niet opnieuw uit te vinden, dat is allemaal al eerder gedaan … Maar zelden zo goed! Het album bevat tien tracks, gaande van stevige, heavy gitaarrifs met het snellere drumwerk tot de meer emotioneel geladen ballad. De meest opvallende track is zonder twijfel “The Voice”, een Ultravox cover. Dit is een rustigere heavy pop ballad, en één van dé meezingers van de plaat. Vier tracks (“It”, “Once Again”, “Incubus”, en “A Descent Into The Maelstrom”) zijn trouwens re-recordings van hun ‘Decent’-demo uit 2001. Fabio Minchillo levert uitstekende, hoog gaande vocalen. Geweldig werk, zeker voor een Italiaan! De gitaarsounds van Napo en The Elder zouden ook zo van een Maiden-plaat kunnen komen. Dit alles klinkt gewoon zeer professioneel. ‘Souls Thieves’ is ondertussen al één van mijn favorieten geworden. Als je houdt van true Heavy Metal, dan is deze cd zeker zijn aanschaf waard. Check it out!