Mystifier "Profanus" CD
[Crash]
Okay, this band needs to drop the stupid bullshit image with the goofy fake names and the bad makeup job on the singer and take themselves more seriously, because this is some promising, though raw, death/thrash. The riffs are pretty fuckin' cool, too. A lot of the rhythms have an 80's thrash vibe going on, and the awesome melodic leads have a traditional metal flare, some of the harmonies even heading into Iron Maiden territory believe it or not. The vocals are sort of weird gruff "growls" or something I guess, with some raspy singing on occasion. A lot of these songs are pretty energetic, and I can get into a good chunk of this stuff. Surprising... because I fully expected this to suck. Now, that's not to say it's without its flaws, but the writing points to a lot of potential. The flaws? Well, I don't care for the vocals so much. I can deal with the general "growling" stuff, even though it barely fits, but the singing pretty much sucks, especially when it shows up out of nowhere and gets a little dramatic (see the awful "Superstitious Predictions of Misfortune"). They keyboards are silly too, so thankfully they tend to not be used often. I also find that some of the songs can be too similar to one another, making the disc somewhat tiresome as a whole. Add all of that to the bands' lame image and goofy song titles and you end up with a strange brew that's weaker than it is strong, but I'd like to bank on these cats being capable of dropping some killer thrash at some point in the future. The recording isn't that bad, it's just a little bit rough around the edges. But the mix is fairly even, and as a result I'm not that bothered by the rugged tones. The bass is audible, the drums are natural... all I'd like to hear would be thicker guitars off the bat, but overlooking a slightly more modern overhaul they're in good shape. The layout blows, though. The cover art is sort of eye-catching, but the snakes and skulls make it pretty goofy, as does the completely illegible band logo complete with goat head. The rest of the layout is devoid of lyrics in favor of bland band photos and cheesy content. The band members are named things like Beelzeebubth, Asmoodeeus, and... Louis Bear (What!?), among others, and the credits use lines like "All rhythm guitar and slappin' bass guitar by..." or "Backin' vocals by..." I'd say they're showing their southern country flavor or something, but they're from Brazil, not Louisiana or anything!? Really, these guys should just kick out their singer, get a better vocalist, and start using their real names. I think that would solve a lot of their problems. Were they to chuck the keyboards and focus a bit more on their melodic side (without shedding their edge), well, that would be an added bonus. Come on, Beelzeebubth... what do you think? (4/10)
Running time - 43:19, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Dare to Face the Beast, Supreme Power of Suffering]
Crash Music - http://www.crashmusicinc.com

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