On disc: The Mystery

 
 Soulcatcher
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Apocalypse 666
 
- Lars Bjørn -
 
 

Apocalypse 666

(Pure Legend Records - 2012)



 
 

 
At first when you hear the music from The Mystery you get surprised that the singer is a woman, Iris Boanta, her voice sounds like a mixing between Joakim Cans from Hammerfall and Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden, lots of power and that is exactly what the whole album is about from The Mystery. Having released two full-length albums and two demos they are back with more metal from the uncomplicated and well-written end of the great metal scale. If you check their webpage www.the-mystery.de there is a video of one of their songs, Nailed To The Cross, just one of their many catchy tracks. This is one of the top bands of Germany to play 80's and 90's power metal with great inspiration from bands like Saxon and Iron Maiden, glimpse in the eye and exploding guitars as their primal weapons. Outlaw is one example of their very competent power metal played with passion and feeling, true commitment to their style of metal, and thanks a lot for that. Death Lullaby has a nice guitar intro before the super metal rhythms takes over the song with mighty power.



Ride On is one of the songs where the clearest inspiration from Iron Maiden is present, and of course full power as their trademark tells them to perform. In my view the best song is Blackened Ivory, where we get the ultimate creativity of metal rhythms, both melodic and hard as iron. Germany delivers many great bands for the European metal scene, and The Mystery is no exception at all.

 
 










Lars Bjørn


  
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Soulcatcher

(Limited Access Records - 2008)



 
 

 

The German band The Mystery was founded in 1996 and had to face several line-up changes. Soulcatcher is the first piece of work with new singer Korry Schadwell who had taken over the microphone from Denise Olbrichs.



Heavily they kick off with the intro Ascending Souls, a heavy metal tune influenced by 80's metal. Take Me To The Light is following - and they take you back into the 80's. This is a fast, but melodic rocker and Korry's voice add the tune a Warlock-touch.... A bit like the early Warlock stuff... With Judas Betrayed they confirm this first impression, but it seems that the quartet enjoy it and so it's okay. The piano-based The Catchers Prelude leads you into Soulcatcher. A dirty heavy rocker is Soulcatcher, but beside the heavy riffs it's Korry's powerful voice which brings this one to life. A good hook, but a bit too repetitive... Suicidal Thoughts is a bit different... If you want to compare it to some other female metal band, then think of Lita Ford. Quite heavy is World Downfall and a riff-based track is Coming Home - both songs combine heaviness and melody. A bit slower is Faithless, The Mystery vary in speed and add other elements to their metal tunes. The rhythm section is building the playground for riff-based guitar play. There is nothing to complain about, some might complain that they sound backdated, but well... If you like 80's metal with powerful female vocals, then you won't mind.



Everybody who still enjoys the early Warlock albums and 80's heavy metal in general should check out The Mystery. Listen to Take Me To The Light, Angel, Soulcatcher and the powerful ballad Unready To Die to get an idea about The Mystery.

 
 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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