MIND KEY - review added 6th July 2009
Album Review: Pulse For A Graveheart (2009)
For fans of: Prog Metal... and albums with cool guests
Italian group Mind Key came to life in early 1999. Formed by keyboard player Dario De Cicco and guitarist Emanuele Colella, they were inspired by Dream Theater, Symphony X, Evergrey and the sound of 80's and 90’s hard rock.
The line-up, although changing over the years, presently consists of Dario and Emanuele plus Elio Fierro Jr on vocals, Andrea Stipa on drums and Raffaele Castaldo on bass.
The intriguingly titled Pulse For A Graveheart is the band's 2nd album and follows in the footsteps of 2004's Journey Of A Rough Diamond. Their sound is, as the influences might suggest, hard rocking and undeniably prog-licious. A number of the disjointed rhythms and wanderings trip over themselves leading to an odd sound, but in general this is a technically adept album.
The star of the show is vocalist Elio Fierro Jr. He has a stunning voice with more than a hint of Jorn Lande. Dennis Ward's production gives him chance to shine with a real clarity of sound. Although Elio has a couple of pronunciation issues in places, the overall sensation is of a vocalist we'll be hearing A LOT more from in the years to come. He deserves nothing less.
Guest musicians on the album include Derek Sherinian playing a keyboard solo on 'Citizen Of Greed', Reb Beach putting some guitar magic on 'Now Until Forever' and Tom Englund dueting with Elio on 'Graveheart'.
First track 'Sunset Highway' starts with a monstrously heavy riff overlaid with cool keys. It immediately gives the impression the album is going to be a brutal beast, but the song soon settles into more of a progressive hard rock sound... still with some combat-strength riffs rumbling in the background. Elio's voice is a thing of marvel. He is both melodious and powerful and gives the track a lift like an Apollo rocket. The song doesn't hit any magical highs, but it's still a grand start to the album.
'Citizen Of Greed' is caught somewhere between a ballad and a chill out song... with hints of hard rocking prog thrown in for good measure. Some of the progressive elements don't work that well and sound unusually confused, but ultimately the song is memorable for the right reasons. The way 'Crusted Memories' builds as it works through is, whilst not breathtaking, not far off. The song starts with a sublime piano piece before gradually adding bass drums and guitars. The chorus is decently pompous and the song wears its 80's influences proudly on its sleeve.
'Ventotene (The Island)' is an instrumental break which leads to track 7, 'Graveheart'. 'Graveheart' is an understated track with just enough madness to retain its sanity. Again, some of the prog elements get carried away and become unmusical, but the excellent chorus drags the song back into feel good territory. The spoken parts by Gandhi (amongst others) are a strange addition though.
'Now Until Forever' is a 9 minute leviathan of a track with numerous great sounding elements. It does go on a bit though and would have been much more successful as a 5 minute track - especially as then they could have removed the annoying funk section. Final song 'A New Generation' is a glorious track with sublime string sounds and truly heart-rending singing. Elio has a few issues with pronunciation toward the start of the track, but seems to sort himself out as he works through. The chorus is brilliant and takes the song to a place where, with a bit more work, it could have been one of the best ballads ever. Regardless, the track closes the album on a noticeable high.
Pulse For A Graveheart is a well produced and beautifully sung album with well played, if sometimes ill-composed, tracks. There are a couple of special songs but nothing truly stands out as exceptional. With better writing this could have been a watershed album from Mind Key. It ends up good, but also a case of what could have been.
Check out... Elio's vocals. He really is bloody good.
Track List:
01. Sunset Highway
02. The Seventh Seal
03. Citizen Of Greed
04. Crusted Memories
05. Dead Fame Hunter
06. Ventotene (The Island)
07. Graveheart
08. Eye Of A Stranger
09. Now Until Forever
10. A New Generation
Label: Frontiers Records
Band websites: Mind Key , MySpace
