| CD REVIEW Mastermind |
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Band : Mastermind Prog Rock masters Mastermind are finally back with a new album after a rather long absence from the market (their last studio album was 2000’s Angels Of The Apocalypse, issued through InsideOut Music, and followed a year later by live album Prog, Fusion, Metal, Leather & Sweat – Live!, this time issued through the band’s own StellarVox label), and although they’ve never been gone from the live circuit, the band may be an unknown to many of the younger music fans out there…so here’s a (short…hah, as if!) history lesson (for the complete course on the band, check their page on Wikipedia). Mastermind was founded in 1986 when guitarist/ singer Bill Berends and his drumming brother Rich met bassist Phil Antolino. Playing many gigs on the New Jersey club circuit, they recorded a full-length cassette titled Volume One that same year, which brought the band under the attention of Shrapnel Records owner and Guitar Player Magazine columnist Mike Varney, whom featured Bill in his Spotlight column in 1988. This resulted in the band being the first singee to the newly founded Magna Carta label, but due to initial release problems the band eventually re-issued their Volume One through the smaller imprint ZNR Records in December 1990. Having started recordings on their sophomore full-length during Winter 1988, they finished work on Volume Two: Brainstorm in the spring of 1991, and had it released (again through ZNR) in January 1992. Third album Tragic Symphony was first released in Japan in November 1994, then released worldwide in June 1995 (by Cyclops Records/ GFT in Europe and by Dutch East India Trading’s sublabel Prozone in the USA). With additional release through Korean label Jigu Records for the South-East Asia market, it became the best selling album in the band’s career up to that moment. Fourth album Untill Eternity came in October 1996, and with sales stong and interest in the band high, the first two albums were re-issued in Europe and Japan, a world tour to follow. 1997 saw Mastermind performing headliners in Japan, playing feestivals in Europe, supporting Rush in New Jersey, and supporting Fish across America. The band’s profile was definitely on the rise. June 1997 saw Cyclops release the limited edition Live In Tokyo, and swiftly selling out the 1,000 copy rotiation. The touring cycle coming to an end, the Berends brothers felt it was time for some change in their sound, and therefore invited keyboardist Jens Johansson (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, Stratovarius) to record with the band. Spending much of the next year on the completion of Excelsior! (released end of 1998 through InsideOut Music), the band found time to play (with Johansson in the line-up) at 1998’s Powermad festival in August. In between that event and the release of the album, the band also added mezzo-sprano singer/ acoutic guitar player Lisa Bouchelle to their line-up. She left the band in 2000, but not before contributing to the Angels Of The Apocalypse album. Mastermind however kept up their continuous live schedule, and would even self-release the 44-minute “CD-single” (containing two tracks of an upcoming album, a cover of A Perfect Circle’s “Weak & Powerless”, and 4 tracks from their repertoire recorded “live in the studio”) Broken, in 2005. Then, in early 2007, the brothers decided to take a step back from their busy gigging schedule, and just to have a little fun with their musical roots (Blues & old school Psychedelic Blues Rock), started the covers band Berends Bros. Band (BBB) with bassist John Benussi (from local Jimi Hendrix tribute act Axis), performing live for the first time (many gigs throughout NJ and Pennsylvania to follow) in March of that year. The brothers have also performed as The Berends/ Wilson Trio (BWT) with bassist Ed Wilson, exploring the music of Cream. The new Mastermind is a further evolution in the band’s sound or, as Bill himself tells it in the biography sheet we got along with the download copy of the album: “I don’t want to keep writing the same symphony over & over again, so this 7th effort features a different approach and a different diva than the previous work. Basically, we want to try new things stylistically and make a good album that would reach beyond the boundaries of Progressive Rock in the traditional sense. We started to move into that direction with Angels, so Insomnia is something of an extension of that thinking…”. The different approach? Rather than concentrate on intricate instrumental passages, the album’s material is concentrated on the song…but without loosing the Progreessive trademarks that made Mastermind in the past! Different diva? One Tracy McShane, who’s got a voice powerful enough to be used by a Power or Heavy Metal act, and is herewith making her album recording debut. Still working alongside the Berends brothers (in the studio) is Johansson, and to play the bass the guys made use of Greg Hagen (part of the band’s live line-up between 2002 and 2004) and Chris Eike. As indicated by the album title, the lyrics focuses on obserrvations and reflections from everyday life which might drive one to sleeplessness. In fact, the title only came after Bill had already spent many sleepless nights during the making of the album. You can listen to a sampler compilation and two full-length tracks off the new album (alongside some older recordings) at myspace.com/mastermindband (there’s also a Japanese Mastermind with no relation to the US band, although Johansson díd make a guest appearance on one of the Japs’ recordings). For more of the old material, you’re best to log onto the band’s own website mastermind.com where, under the “Music Samples & Media Links” section, you’ll find a plentitude of links to several live videos, as well as links to the brothers’ other musical outings! 90/100 Tony. |