MYSTIC FORCE

Concerning the musicians, the drummer surely deserves a serious praise. He makes it just like Mark Zonder (my private drum hero)!!! Chris Lembach's drumming is apparently influenced by the ultimate drum-genius of Fates Warning. Being very versatile, quite diverse and inventive it utterly helps to create and maintain not only the groove and punch, but also the melody and atmosphere. Guitarist Rich Davis is extremely technical - what about some sweep picking? He composes rather heavy and memorable riffs, but for some reasons fails to deliver stunning (in the sense of melody and emotions) solos. Bass parts by Keith Menser are really ok. So his occasional keys inclusions are. Vocals are so-called "quasi-operatic" and really similar to early Ray Alder with a touch of Midnight as well. But regardless the vocal range and beautiful singing Bobby Hicks lacks his own vocal identity, image, you can say. Not that he copies the styles of renowned singers like Tate, Alder or Oliva, but his personal timbre don't stuck in memory like the voices of aforementioned vocalists do.

Moving to songs, I can highlight: Shipwrecked With The Wicked (my fave one), Answers Of The Mystery, Vicious Obsessions, Reach For Tomorrow (the most light song on the record filled with atmosphere of hope which builds images of enchanted elven forest in my imagination), Eternal Quest and, perhaps, Dimensions. The tracks like Structure of Uncertainties, Eternal Quest and Premonitions will probably draw attention of advocates of prog complexity.

In the end we have a rather good progressive record of medium to superior musical quality with slight diversity in style, which however lacks own identity a little bit and suffers from mediocre production. It would a pleasant listen for admirers of old-school 80s prog-heavy metal.

Mystic Force have always belonged to the semi-progressive US power metal camp and acts like Queensrÿche, Fates Warning, Heir Apparent and Sanctuary are valid references. However with each release they incorporated more and more progressive elements to their sound, and that culminates on "Man VS Machine", which was by far their most progressive offering up until then. The influences from especially Queensrÿche (their most progressive releases from the late eighties) are still strong, but Mystic Force are generally a heavier beast and it's not unusual for their music to include harder edged US power/thrash oriented metal riffing. Lead vocalist William Wren has a voice and a singing style that reminds me of Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche) and sometimes Ray Alder (Fates Warning, Redemption). A very skilled singer with a strong voice.

"Man VS Machine" is a strong album throughout. Each track stand out as memorable and catchy, the sound production is professional and powerful and the musicianship is oustanding. The tracks aren't overtly progressive in structure, but while they mostly follow a vers/chorus formula, Mystic Force successfully make sure to include compositional surprises to keep their music entertaining. At 62:26 minutes it's a rather long album but it's one of those rare releases with a long playing time that doesn't feel long because there are no low points. It's consistently great all the way through and as a consequence a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

The music on "A Step Beyond" takes a slightly more progressive direction than was the case with "The Eternal Quest (1993)", which had already taken on a more progressive direction compared to "Shipwrecked with the Wicked (1990)". Still the music is heavily rooted in eighties US power metal and the progressive part of the band´s sound is only occasionally dominant. Tracks like "The Conquest" and "The Innerchild" are examples of the progressive side of the band´s sound. Quite a few of the tracks are more heavy/semi thrashy/harder edged and direct in nature though. "Far Away" is probably the odd song out on the album. It´s a power ballad type track with a mainstream oriented chorus.

The musicianship is strong. Bobby Hicks is a skilled vocalist and the instrumental part of the music is also very well played. The sound production leaves a bit to be desired and the songwriting isn´t that memorable either though, so not everything on the album are top notch. I still think a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved but I do prefer Mystic Force when they played a more "straight" US power metal style.

Other than that we´re presented with new material, which is pretty obvious because the two "older" tracks are in a US power metal style while the rest of the material are more progressive in nature. The band master both styles with great conviction though. In fact Mystic Force are a very well playing act. High pitched vocals delivered with great skill, a powerful and tight rythm section and some very skillfully played guitar work (both rythm and lead). Artists like Queensrÿche, Fates Warning and Crimson Glory are valid references. While the music undeniably features a progressive edge, we´re talking "regular" length tracks, and you shouldn´t expect longer instrumental sections either. Considering that "The Eternal Quest" was released in 1993, it´s actually rather old school/traditional progressive metal sounding and could easily have been released in the mid- to late eighties.

The sound production is decent, but lacks slightly in the power department. It´s a minor issue though and along with the slight stylistic inconsistency of the material, that´s about the only complaints I have with the album. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

So if you already have the "Take Command (1989)" EP or the "Take Command - The Demo Years (1990)" compilation, where the tracks from the EP are also featured, "Shipwrecked with the Wicked" offers little new of real value.

There´s absolutely nothing wrong with the quality of the music though (besides the not so professional sound production on "Who Really Gives A..."). We´re talking very well played US power metal with an occasional semi-progressive edge. Not too far removed from early Queensrÿche, Fates Warning or Crimson Glory. High pitched vocals, blistering lead guitar work, edgy riffing and a powerful tight rythm section. The odd nature of the album, with tracks from three different sessions, isn´t great for the consistency of the album though and at 34:43 minutes, "Shipwrecked with the Wicked" isn´t the longest album either, but overall it´s still a pretty great release deserving a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating.

The band play a US power metal style with nods toward traditional progressive metal not completely unlike artists like Queensrÿche, Fates Warning and Lethal. The tracks from the "Take Command (1989)" EP feature a semi-progressive edge while the tracks from the "Mystic Force (1987)" demo are more "straight" US power metal. The sound production on both releases were of good quality for the time and the musicianship excellent. Heavy riffing, blistering solo work, high pitched clean vocals and a tight playing rythm section. In other words: Quality US power metal.

Considering how rare the original releases were (and still are), the idea to release "Take Command - The Demo Years" was good. The compilation has successfully served the purpose of making rare material more available instead of being just another "best-of" compilation type release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

The band play traditional US power metal with slight nods toward traditional progressive metal in the vein of Queensrÿche, Fates warning and Lethal. The tracks are cleverly composed and technically well played. Especially the title track is worth a mention. While the music isn´t overtly progressive it´s obvious that the band are aiming at moving in that direction. The sound production is powerful but not perfect to my ears.

Mystic Force are an exceptionally well playing act and especially guitarist Rich Davis deserves a mention for his powerful and intriguing playing. His solos are simply superb. Varied and challenging. The high pitched vocal delivery by Bobby Hicks and the skilled and tight rythm section of drummer Chris Lembach and bassist Keith Menser (also keyboards), also deserve a mention though.

To be honest I enjoyed the more direct musical approach of the demos more than the semi- progressive nature of "Take Command", but I never deny quality and "Take Command" is a quality release deserving a 3.5 star (70%) rating.

The music on the demo is US power metal with high pitched clean vocals, edgy heavy metal/semi- thrashy riffing, shredding melodic guitar solos and a powerful pounding rythm section. Early albums by artists like Queensrÿche, Fates Warning and Heir Apparent are valid references. The progressive elements that the band would incorporate to their music later in their career are not present on this demo. The tracks are very well written, memorable and delivered with great conviction. The sound production is professional and powerful. It´s not obvious that this is a demo recording. Considering that this demo was released in 1987, quite a few studio releases from those days feature a sound production that don´t match this one.

This is not just a promising first release, this is a great release in it´s own right and could well have been released as an EP instead of a demo. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is fully deserved.

''A Step Beyond'' was Mystic Force's last release in the 90's and the last with Bobby Hicks on vocals, who sadly passed away in March 2013 at the age of 52 after there had been a number of failed attempts to re-unite the original 90-95 line-up of the band. Mystic Force, even before his death, had achieved a cult status among the metal circles. Their style of epic/power/progressive metal with the added touch of quirkiness has made them one of the most sought after in the underground scene.

Possibly the reason for not achieving fame in the 90's was the unconventional path they chose to take in their sound - as everyone was evolving away from standard patterns, high-pitched 80's vocals and introducing keyboards, Mystic Force decided to go with the well-known recipe: traditional riff-fueled power/progressive metal. ''A Step Beyond'' sounds as if it's coming straight from the 80's, part of the American power metal movement late in that decade. They definitely though diverted away from the pack in the sense that, rather than going down the speed metal route, they decided to enrich their sound with odd-time signatures, majestic mid-tempo riffs with an epic feeling; imagine something between Fates Warning's ''Awaken the Guardian'' and Heir Apparent's debut. Acoustic guitars, high-pitched vocals, solid power metal and totally-guitar driven progressive songwriting; no keyboards here (albeit a small surprise in the end), just pure riff power.

The classic heavy metal elements are also strong and there might be (limited) passages in the album that will question their progressive character (e.g. the hard-rock driven Love Hates Loves Desire). The majority of the album sounds dated, as we are indeed in 1995 and not 1985 - we would be talking about a cornerstone of progressive metal otherwise. The compositions are mostly technical with a plethora of majestic power metal riffs but the band almost intentionally introduces a dose of obscurity that makes this album difficult to digest (not necessarily a bad thing for many). However, they had left the best for the end as Nothing is Forever, after a 3 minute beautiful proggy acoustic theme and a 2-minute silence, introduces an exciting 7-minute of so (hidden) out-of-this-world progressive metal sequence of which many bands of the 90's would be jealous; oh, and a glimpse of keyboards comes to provide the melodic finishing in the last couple of minutes.

By 1995 the world had progressed but Mystic Force had decided to produce a solid power/progressive metal album out of the 80's. For lovers of the early period of Fates Warning, this will be like bread-and-butter, for the rest I would suggest a sneak preview of the highlights, but would not recommend this to anyone who is cautious of entering the metal spheres...

Highlights: Among Infinity, Love Hates Loves Desire, Nothing is Forever