Review by Greg on January 24, 2024.

I clearly remember all-female act Jenner as a great sensation back in 2017, when they entered the fray with debut To Live Is To Suffer, so much that seeing them struggle to follow it was one of the last things I'd have expected. Granted, this ordeal is more than partly justified by the band's revolving-door lineup (I've seen somebody calling it the 'Nervosa syndrome' somewhere) that left guitarist Aleksandra Stamenković as the only original member and, after taking on vocal duties as well, the de facto frontwoman. Anyways, time for the sophomore has come at last, and I'm not gonna delve too much into the fact that, not having been impressed by the previous effort, I might be among the targets of this Prove Them Wrong's title – let's just hope the gals will succeed at that.

Those acquainted with To Live Is To Suffer will surely expect more of Jenner's peculiar brand of heavy-infused thrash metal, with the difference that Stamenković is unsurprisingly the absolute star of the show here. Her vocal delivery distances itself from Anđelina Mitić's rather Mike Sanders (Toxik)-esque high-pitched vocals, her timbre being a more conventional Mustaine-meets-Nicole Lee (Znöwhite) snarl for the most part, while also exhibiting a cleaner facet in some of the less ballistic tracks. She also upped the ante in the guitars department, considering she's still the only one in charge of every single guitar part. Aided by the album's crystal-clear and powerful sound (no surprise, with Quasarborn's Luka Matković at the helm), it's her leadwork that shines the most, above the often solid riffs – showcasing the 'heavy' face of the band which, dare I say, is where the ladies feel most at home with. The 3-min solos interchange in closer 'Laws of The Weak''s second half is sure to steal the spotlight, but don't let that distract you from the fact that more or less every lead section seems to have been written with a purpose, and tons of melodic gusto, in mind.

One positive aspect I never forget to mention, where applicable, is when an album actually becomes more engaging as tracks go by. Prove Them Wrong achieves this feat in a number of ways: to begin with, putting killer advance single 'Never Say Die' in second to last spot played its part, as the track is a collection of the album's best and most furious riffs, with drummer Selena Simić at her fastest and tightest as well (although, in a perfect world, accompanying the verse with a blast beat wouldn't have hurt); but side B brings also the most interesting, if slowest, episodes with 'Not Even You' and aforementioned 'I Saw It All Clear', with the former attempting an epic refrain with Avenged Sevenfold-like noodling in the background and whatnot (sounds better than how I put it, I promise), but it's the latter that can brag about being the band's real gem to this day, as far as I'm aware. Another emotional chorus, magnificent soloing by Stamenković all over the whole damn thing... yeah, I'm digging this so much. Top-notch stuff.

That also means, by consequence, that the album's first half might fail to leave an equally strong impression, with the due exception of badass opener 'No Time For Prayer', where a neat buildup from the intro leads to a song highlighting the best of both worlds, until the unbelievably simple, yet effective, chorus (something that the following title-track wasn't able to pull off). 'Born For Something More' and 'Down In The Pit' are unfortunately the kind of songs that would quietly round up the tracklist, had they been placed later in it – but they bear no particular offense, besides a certain repetitiveness.

Admittedly, whenever a band entirely made up of women hits it big, I always end up wondering whether it's true success or there's some (voluntary or not) encouragement done, due to the fact that it's usually a rare occurrence. In this case, the members' gender is totally irrelevant. Prove Them Wrong is an impressive album on its own merits, and Jenner should even get more coverage than what they do now, after having proved they can excel at every different style they attempt. Arguably not an 'all killer no filler' effort, but extremely good stuff all around. Another home run from Serbia, I guess?

Hell yes, feels safe to say, I've been proven wrong. And it feels awesome.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10