Mystery is a Canadian prog band whose roots go back to the mid/late 1980's. While they have released a handful of albums over the years, their ouput has been rather sporadic, and Beneath the Veil of Winter's Face is their first CD since 2007. The lone member from the original days of the band is guitarist/keyboard player Michel St-Père, who also happens to be the owner of Unicorn Digital Records. With all of the flurry of activity since he started the label a few years back, it's taken him many years to get this album written, recorded, and released, but it's finally here. If you are familiar with the music of Mystery, you know the band previously played strong symphonic prog rock with touches of AOR, and quite frankly nothing has changed here. New vocalist Benoît David is a real find, as he has a great voice that fits this driving, hook infused music quite well. St-Père's guitar and keyboard work is stellar throughout the album, providing plenty of drama on tracks like "Travel to the Night and "The Third Dream", two adventurous pieces that will easily appeal to fans of Saga or Arena with their catchy hooks, muscular guitar work, and symphonic keys. The epic "The Awakening" is just a great prog rock gem, complete with lots of atmosphere as well as bombast, and features David's most passionate vocal on the CD. Other strong songs are the energetic opener "As I Am", the symphonic "Snowhite", the hard rock muscle of "The Preacher's Fall", and the gorgeous & majestic title track.
Rounding out the new line-up is drummer Steve Gagne and Patrick Bourque on bass, both who do a fine job here alongside the solid instrumentation provided by St-Père, whose hard work over the years getting this CD recorded obviously has paid off. Word has it that St-Père and the band are already at work on a follow-up, so hopefully we won't have to wait the 9 years it's been since their last studio release of new material (which was 1998's Destiny) to once again experience this solid act.
Track Listing
1. As I Am (5:41)
2. Beneath the Veil of Winter's Face (5:58)
3. Snowhite (4:07)
4. Travel to the Night (8:38)
5. The Scarlet Eye (5:35)
6. The Third Dream (6:11)
7. Voyage to the Other Side (6:24)
8. The Sailor and the Mermaid (5:23)
9. The Awakening (11:12)
10. The Preacher's Fall (3:30)
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
