Mystixz pronounced “me-sticks”, is a Progressive Heavy Metal band from Bangalore. The city has been a fertile ground for metal for quite a few years now and has a very active underground metal music scene. Mystixz is a new entrant to this. Even though the band was formed in 2011, the members have been actively playing for various other bands in the city.
Mystixz came out with their debut EP “Genesis” a few months ago. The 3 track EP is a very interesting listen and is a portent for things to come. The band’s Facebook page lists bands like Opeth, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Megadeth as some of their influences.
The first song titled “Fly Away” is song very reminiscent of the prog metal gods Opeth. The song is divided into sections and builds up very nicely. It has some very interesting solos embedded in it. The guitar and piano pieces stand out in this track and showcase the craft of the musicians. The way electric guitar is introduced in the background is pretty cool. I found the lead vocals a little lacking in the punch, especially when he hits the higher notes. Also the transition to the growl section is a little abrupt, but riding on Eshwaran’s fluent fretwork, the song drifts very smoothly back to its melodic course. The sort of jam towards the end of the song between the guitars and piano is very pleasing to the ears.
“Till the end” starts of with a sexy guitar riff which sets the mood of the song. This is the song where the singer Tom Borah is in his zone and does a very good job. Around 3:09 my favorite section of the song begins, here the guitar solo lifts the song to a different level and from there the drummer, Nitesh does a interesting drum sequence. To the ear the song is much less complex compared to the first one but it is a more complete track.
One can’t help but head bang to the third track of the album, the “Voice of a Soul”. It starts with a sinister tone. This interesting track has a psychedelic rock interlude and it gives this song a unique identity. But the real soul of the song is the metal section and I can pretty much visualize this song getting the mosh pit going. The sheer energy of the song is impressive and may be more this is what the band should do in the future.
There is no dearth of talent in Mystixz which is very evident from the songs. The band has really tried to live up to their progressive, experimental tag and gone that extra mile in to create some very original music. All it needs to do is to keep writing more music. This debut CD for one makes the listener crave more. But the pit fall of progressive metal is that due to the experimental aspect of the music, successive albums can sound totally different from each other. And it needs to be heard how Mystixz next song will sound like. In the meantime head bang to “Genesis”.
You can listen to the songs from the band’s facebook page
