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You know that feeling of finally finishing a long-outstanding
project? Well I can just imagine that Michel St-Pere must
be feeling pretty good these days. You see besides running
a studio and the prog label Unicorn Digital, Michel is also
the man behind the Quebec prog band Mystery and now after
six years he’s finally released the 4th Mystery CD entitled
Beneath the Veil of Winter’s Face. It’s a release he should
be really proud of to I might add.***
Mystery consists of Michel St-Pere (guitars, bass, keyboards),
Benoit David (vocals), Steve Gagne (drums), and Patrick Bourque
(bass). A number of additional musicians have contributed
to this project including Spaced Out’s Antoine Fafard. But
this is clearly Michel’s baby as he wrote and produced everything
here. Musically this is easily categorized as modern melodic
symphonic progressive rock. Stylistically and structurally
these 10 compositions compare with the music of bands such
as Jadis, Pendragon or even Marillion. Or to come at it another
way, imagine Styx at their most progressive and add a little
bit more. In fact there are moments where David’s vocal style
more than hint’s of Dennis DeYoung. The opening melodic strains
of “As I Am” (5:41) set the tone with it’s powerful recurring
melody line set within huge swells of music that ebbs and
flows around the song’s themes. All the pieces are like this
to some degree. The lyrics drive the melody, providing plenty
of memorable lines, the kind that gets stuck in your head
for days. The longer tracks like “Travel to the Night” (8:38)
and “The Awakening” (11:12) incorporate a fair-share of musical
twists and turns although it’s very smooth avoiding unnecessary
complexity. This is true even of the mid-length pieces like
“The Third Dream” (6:11) and “Voyage to the Other Side” (6:24).
The music flows along at a certain intensity before shifting
time and tempo or sometimes it’s a change in arrangement that
moves the song in a new direction. As I said Mystery’s style
is not overly complex but the music is always changing, revealing
new sounds, new textures, new melodies. The music is full,
even lush with huge dramatic moments and moody atmospheres.***
Beneath the Veil of Winter’s Face clocks in at 62 minutes,
and is full of some great music. This is a very polished,
mature release and I really like it. It just sounds so good.
The time off certainly hasn’t diminished the performances
here. It may have taken 6 years, but the wait for Mystery
fans is well worth it. Fans of the bands mentioned will have
no problem appreciating the music of Mystery. It’s a hit and
I can heartily recommend it.
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