THE MYSTERY HALL – The Voyager Through The Void

The first effort of this band from Spain to enter the Progressive Metal realm is called The Voyager Through The Void. Rafael Morata (the voice) and Tony Baena (the guitar) are two musicians that decided to join forces in making this band work, producing 12 songs that have a Progressive Metal direction with a strong Rock foundation.

Usually, in albums of the aforementioned genre, someone can find complicated songs with a whole bunch of rhythm changes and melodies. This makes the music difficult to follow, and possibly understand, especially if you’re not into this kind of music. The quartet from Spain is trying to find the golden mean by writing Progressive Metal oriented songs, while following a straightforward approach rising from Hard Rock influences. This effort is made obvious by looking at the time duration of the songs, which have an average time of no more than 6 minutes, something that is hard to find in the leading bands of this genre.

The album opens with “Sudden Recall,” featuring a short guitar – keyboard intro that presents influences from bands like Magnum and Dream Theater. Rafael Morata performs flawlessly, his highpitched vocals, despite the “weak” sound production, are focused exceptionally into the music.

The best track on the album is next, bearing the title “In the Roar of Ecstasy.” The main riff has a catchy melody, driving the listener straight to the rhythm change, featuring some Maiden-ish twin guitars playing sophisticated fills and leads. The tempo slows down in “Pushed by the Waves,” which starts with a keyboard intro (a real piano would sound better) and some background samples. The guitars come in to speed up the tempo until Morata sings the first song verse. The feeling that the music covers the vocals is stronger here, messing up the album’s total score.

Things sound better and in place during “Underground,” a mid-tempo song with a Hard Rock attitude. “Like Tumbleweed” has a Progressive Metal profile, especially during Tony Baena’s guitar solo, who is a well known guitar hero in Spain. “A Brand New Day” is another Hard Rock song with some more skilled guitar work in the rhythm section. There is a feeling that grows from the beginning of the album that is straightened out in “Words and Stone.” The songs simply don’t work and sound a little bit flat, despite the fact that these guys from Spain are without a doubt highly skilled musicians.

The situation described above remains stable in “Quicksand Love,” “Disbelief (Set Me Free),” “Lord and Master,” and “Castaway of the Skies.” The album closes with the very good instrumental “Shambala,” featuring guitar solos that follow Steve Vai’s style, and some decent keyboard work. There indeed is hope here for the future for this quartet.

The attempt to write Progressive Metal songs that are easy to follow and understand in some way backfired here, and gives the impression of being flat arrangements. Maybe if there were fewer songs with longer time duration, the resulting grade would be higher. Progressive Metal fans can wait for their second attempt (on the way as their official site informs) and give this Mediterranean band a second chance to prove themselves.