THE WORLD IS A GAME

Montreal's Mystery offers a terrific dose of modern Neo-Prog. Their previous albums "Beneath The Veil Of Winter's Face" and "One Among The Living" are great albums, but when under a microscope this album takes it up a notch.

In the spring of 2012, Vocalist Benoit David announced his desire to take a break from Music. Jean Pageau would replace Benoit David as Mystery's lead singer. Joining Mystery on this album is drummer Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard, Tears for Fear, Genesis, Big Big Train).

"A Morning Rise" is a instrumental intro with soft acoustic guitars, gentle flute, and sparse keyboards. During "Pride" there's a lot of rising and falling drama, as well as endless tension. A grand piece that gets better with every single listen. "Superstar" is a Pink Floyd styled piece. I found the words very sympathetic, recognizing some feelings and observations from my own life.The highlight of an already wonderful piece is the number of effortless searing guitar solos which are dripping with emotion and frustration. "The Unwinding Of Time" is a brief musical box melody that starts out pretty until dark and sinister sounds fade in, before going into the title track. "The World Is A Game" is the most upbeat piece on the album. Lots of nice gentle acoustic guitars which provide the listener with some uplifting emotions, which helps break up the album from being a little too melancholy and serious. The sad but optimistic "Dear Someone" is probably the most straightforward piece on the album. Great melodies throughout this one--and some really hopeful, heart-warming lyrics. "Time Goes By" really grabs me the last minute in a half when the drums, bass, and guitar start playing off each other in an awesome display of instrumental inter-play."Another Day'"is truly epic, lasting 19 minutes. There's endless emotional piano, moody acoustic guitar playing and David's absolutely superb main vocal theme that is sung in the opening and is reprized throughout is mesmerizing. Interesting that they also finish things up without the huge guitar solo, instead opting for a thoughtful come-down.

At the end of the album I am left with a profound feeling that I have experienced something with measureless passion. Do yourself a favor - take the time to listen to "The World Is A Game." You'll start to appreciate it and realize it's another winning album to place alongside several other terrific melodic progressive rock albums.