BEHIND

"Behind..." is the debut full-length studio album by Austrian progressive metal act Mayfair. The album was released through General Inquisitor Torquemado in 1993. Mayfair formed in 1989 and released the 1989 "Live for the King" and the 1991 "Find My Screams Behind This Gate" demos before being signed for the release of "Behind..." by the small and shortlived independent General Inquisitor Torquemado label.

"Behind..." features 6 tracks and a total playing time of 29:16, which really isn´t much considering that this is a progressive metal release. One of the regular features of the genre is excessive song- and album lengths, but Mayfair are generally a very different sounding and quite creative progressive metal act, and you should by no means expect this to sound like the Dream Theater school of progressive metal, which started to flood the market around this time. The music features no keyboards, and it´s often strangely atmosperic and almost abstract theatrical in nature. The most odd moments of Psychotic Waltz may be a valid reference, but the music on "Behind..." is quite hard to describe correctly.

It´s certainly unique and quite the interesting listen, although not everything works equally well. The sound production is a bit on the powerless and thin side, and although lead vocalist Mario Prünster is arguably a skilled vocalist his distinct sounding voice and theatrical delivery are sometimes a bit much on the ears (picture how Geddy Lee from Rush would sound like if he was crazy). So upon conclusion I´d put "Behind..." in the catagory of being more interesting than great, but I´d still recommend giving the album a listen if you´re curious to find and hear progressive metal from the 90s, which is on the weirder and more unique side of the spectrum. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

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