MYSTERY BLUE
“Night Demon”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Mystery Blue are a heavy metal band from France founded at the turn of eighties by guitarist Frenzy Philippon, the band releasing two albums before going on hiatus in 1989 – reforming six years later with a brand new line-up, Mystery Blue have gone on to release a further seven albums, the bands ninth (and most recent release) ‘Night Demon’ emerging in 2024…

…featuring vocalist Nathalie Geyer, drummer Vince Koehler, guitarist Erik Lothaire, and bass player Julien “Ted” Weibel alongside founder Philippon – the new album consisting of thirteen songs across fifty, very heavy and hard hitting power come traditional metal minutes! ‘Night Demon’ is a massive slice of energy driven heavy metal to head bang furiously to, the albums blistering opening salvo ‘End Of The World’ hurtling in at a hundred fucking miles a hour – the ferocity unleashed by the French metallers as ferocious as a thrash metal band! And the aggressive roar of singer Geyer hits hard too, ‘End Of The World’ a fairly apt title as if (and probably when) the end of the world occurs, it now has a soundtrack! A barnstorming start to ‘Night Demon’, Mystery Blue keep the hammer well and truly down with the fire and brimstone charged ‘Colours Of Life’, the band planting one foot on the old school heavy metal monitor to gallop forth with pace, power and purpose! And the head bang ability across the albums opening two songs has been off the charts, the French five-piece setting their stall out early to devastate the land with an explosive and fiery brand of heavy metal!

A fabulous start to the album continues with the one minute tension fuelled ‘Burning Souls’ building a crescendo of anticipation as it segues straight into the title song ‘Night Demon’, a monolithic mid tempo foot stomp shuddering the ground and shaking nearby buildings to their foundations! The anthemic nature here is fantastic, Mystery Blue hitting harder than a thousand wrecking balls in full flight, the clenched fists of everyone everywhere raised high in the air – and then punching the air as ‘Human Again’ enters the fray with a more hustle and bustle feel than everything heard so far, the band proceeding to press the pedal firmly to the metal to roar off down the autoroute at top speed! The pace and tempo changes throughout ‘Human Again’ is many, every listener kept on their toes by the band as to which direction they’re gonna go in next!

A thrilling first few songs to the album, the thrills carry on coming with the foot to the floor ‘Pandemic Metal Virus’, the band adopting the iconic foot on the monitor pose along with the “metal gallop” highly associated with traditional heavy metal – the level of head bang ability shooting right through the fucking roof as ‘Pandemic Metal Virus’ echoes the immensely energetic power-driven style of heavy metal legends Judas Priest. There’s certainly no mystery surrounding the bands intentions with regards to playing metal music – damn well red hot if you ask me! And returning the weighty oomph of mid tempo anthemic metal to the fore, ‘Rebel At Heart’ shudders the ground much more than earlier, the band bludgeoning listeners with a savage barrage of some of the heaviest heavy metal you’re every likely to hear this year! There’s just no stopping Mystery Blue when they’re in this mood, and I for one ain’t even gonna try as I don’t want to be flattened by the formidable French five-piece – ‘Undertakers’ entering the fray with a mighty punch and a crushing crunch! The power emanating from ‘Undertakers’ is overwhelming, the all conquering energy level higher than the International Space Station – and that’s two hundred and fifty miles straight up! And with additional vocals from Paragon frontman Andreas Babuschkin, the dual female and male vocal attack is mesmerising!

And if ‘Skulls From Hell’ isn’t an all out head banger I’d be a little bit upset, as the title does suggest a fast paced, foot to the floor balls to the wall mentality! And how do I know this! ‘Cause I’ve spent more than forty fucking years listening to heavy metal and have a sixth sense for these things – the band proving me right by accelerating outta the blocks faster than a Formula One car off the grid! The worldwide mosh pits are gonna go crazy over this one, every mosher in every pit furiously rocking their head back and forth in order to keep up with the band! Good luck with that then! And opening with a serene piano-led first fifty seconds or so, ‘Where Metal Rules’ appears to be heading in the direction of balladry – but Mystery Blue have other ideas as the minute mark approaches and all hell is let loose! If hell is a mighty anthemic foot stomp to knock planet Earth into a new orbit, ‘Where Metal Rules’ accelerating hard across the chorus break to become a pace changing tempo changing roar of riotous heavy metal! And that’s where we remain for ‘Wild Fire’, Mystery Blue turning the levels of everything up to eleven, storming across the land with unforgiving purpose and intent, every listener feeling the full impact of a band very much at the top of their game!

Serenity makes an emphatic return as ‘Forever Hand In Hand’ strolls purposefully into ballad country, every listener, fan and follower around the world welcoming the opportunity for a breather from the all out onslaught of ‘Night Demon’ (the album) up to this point! But the band, just like earlier have other ideas, turning ‘Forever Hand In Hand’ into a hymn-like anthemic swagger that bristles with a ground shuddering nature to remind everyone that Mystery Blue are a metal band and not a rock one! And for the albums final hurrah, the French metallers deliver a cover of the Accept classic ‘Restless And Wild’ (taken from the bands 1982 album of the same name), keeping very much to the pace of the original along with Accept’s power and punch.

Overall, a barnstorming and full on barrage of power-driven heavy metal with tonnes of energy and a sky high level of head bang ability.

TRACKLIST

End Of The World
Colours Of Life
Burning Souls
Night Demon
Human Again
Pandemic Metal Virus
Rebel At Heart
Undertakers (feat. Andreas Babuschkin)
Skulls From Hell
Where Metal Rules
Wild Fire
Forever Hand In Hand
Restless And Wild (Accept cover)

https://mysteryblue.com/
https://www.facebook.com/official.MysteryBlue

This review is the property of Iron Mathew and Metal Gods TV. It is strictly prohibited to copy any part of this review, unless you have both of the parties’ permission, or are the band/record label/PR company in question. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be considered as Plagiarism and you will be reported to the appropriate authorities

---