MESMERIZE - Paintropy

The story of the band starts back in the late 80's, when some folks from Italy decided to form a band. Experienced and respected musicians as they were, their brainchild was called Mesmerize, and their style was a mixture of Power Metal with plenty of Classic Metal elements to spice things up. The first work I have heard from them, was "Off The Beaten Path", which was released at 2002, and I still remember that I liked their work, and the way they blended all their influences into a very interesting and groovy style. The first thing I noticed though, is that the band hasn't lost a bit of the ability to write good songs, while their style might sound a more modern but still contains the same influences and groovy parts of the past. Once again the band is creating music that is not far from what you might call Classic Metal at times, Power Metal at other moments, but always shares the same principles. It's fast and groovy, catchy as much as possible, and full of nice melodies and vocal lines. The first thing I noticed are the vocals of Folco Orlandini, high pitched when needed, but also harsh and more raw when the rhythm demands, coloring the songs with various styles and adding to the whole atmosphere of the music. Another strong point is the guitars, that create some super cool riffs, melodies and solos, while the rhythm section is also moving on the same high quality level. There's enough diversity here, moments where more Epic things come in surface, parts when the band speeds thing up, and moments where melodies take the leading role into more Melodic Power forms. The songwriting is also very good, the band seems to have a lot of interesting ideas, and while not really leaving the Classic Metal path, they are exploring various territories and incorporate elements making their music even more groovy and time resistant. Being a constant headbanging from start to finish, this album will please all fans of the band, and is certainly a mighty come back. Well done guys.