Chuck Schuldiner Project

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Mistress-Heavy Mental


I've been on a bit of a Pat Benatar kick all day today, so when I saw tonight's band to review was a top notch female fronted NWOBHM style act I was much relieved. With meaty riffs that invoke the spirit of old masters, Mistress immediately engage the listener and get your entire body shaking in joy, this is the kind of metal madness that we can only do with more of, heavy and undiluted. Toss in a few big choruses and a rather unique vibe brought in by the charismatic frontwoman Deanna Gardas whose passion simply radiates from my iPod.

There is something deeply moving with the Mistress sound. Maybe it's the way they don't mess around with fancy frills and just get to the spirit of the music, or maybe it's something else. All I can say, is not a lot of bands can pull of the things Mistress do, like sticking a multi-part progressive epic on an album filled mostly with rockers. Here's where it gets cool, not only do Mistress do all this, but Heavy Mental stays endlessly interesting throughout, you can never tell when Mistress are going to throw another curveball at you and beat your skull right into the ground. There are thrash and even death metal riffs here tossed into a NWOBHM context and they work in an exciting way, giving Heavy Mental a clear edge above the competition.

Mistress have created something that is enjoyable from the get go but also stands up after multiple listens. By paying tribute to their musical ancestors and turning it up until they were ready to explode they have birthed something gloriously unholy. Memorable and dynamic, I'm looking forward to hearing more about how Mistress evolve in the near future, seeing as I'll be moving to Philly in just a few months I'm sure I will get the honor of seeing them live, hopefully they rip as much on stage as they do on the record. Given the triumph that is Heavy Mental I would be very impressed!

Find them on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/mistressrocks

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