MASTERMIND IV - UNTIL ETERNITY

Mastermind's fourth album finds them moving forward into the increasing amount of jazz rock elements into their prog sound, which until their Vol. 3 consisted basically of a combination of symphonic grandeur (a la ELP & Kansas) and metal prog fire, with some notches of AOR melodic drive. The jazz thing is clearly present and developed in 'Inferno' and 'Jubilee', as well as some parts of the closing namesake suite. Curious thing: the main lead guitar theme that kicks off the opening track 'Under the Wheels' is pretty Crimsonian, with a wicked metal twist, making it both spectacular and challenging. One way or another, the listener suspects from this moment that nothing can go wrong with the rest of teh album, and it's certainly true - paving the way for the jazz fusion splendour of 'Excelsior!' (IMHO, their best effort ever), this repertoire manages to portray a varied spectrum of musical ideas within the confines of Mastermind's prototypical pompous sound, as it is shown in 'The Tempest' and the namesake suite. Other tracks such as 'Dreaming' are more AOR oriented, allowing some fresh air in order to occasionally relieve the listener from the predominant sonic "oppression". Given the fact that the jazz factor becomes more obvious and more important, the rhythm section is given opportunity to shine in a more sophisticated way than in the band's previous albums (which were not really easy-playing, of course). Yet, it is guitarist extraordinaire Bill Berends who remains the frontman in the instrumental ensamble; always expanding himself on his normal electric guitar and using clever midi tricks in order to create a symphonic amalgam. A great album this is, so I regard it as an excellent addition to any good prog collection.

Mastermind reaches with this forth album from 1996 the peak of their career so far. To my ears this is their best effort 'till today of this almost unknow american band and stands as equal in greatness with Angels of the apocalypse from 2000. They manage to creat such a solid album , maybe because is the same line-up like on predecesor , and the tight musical unit is seen here on every track. Again quite in the same vein with previouses albums, that eclectic prog very well combined with ELP keyboard driven prog and a lots of twists and time signatures, and here and there some symphonic moments and jazzy interplays. So to me this forth album - Untl eternity is the best Mastermind album, and a true carier of ELP music in the '90's, beaing without doubt one of the most intristing american duo bands from today. With all that Mastermind never was considered as big league band, thay are in shadow of other names, sad, because they keep in their music an unique sound made by the two brothers Berends. The best pieces are:The two instrumentals Jubilee and the title track Until eternity - a 14 minutes of stunning virtuosity and great musicianship, the rest are ok. So I will give 3.5 rounded to 4 , just because is another well done Mastemind album, and holds the best pieces they ever done so far.