Shadow’s Mignon Midnight Sky Masquerade
by Franco Wissa
Staff Writer
This one is interesting, in a good way. Surely with lyrics talking about dragons, darkness, death, elves, wings of evil, far away kingdoms, being a slave to metal and beasts coming out only at night, one would, and should rightfully assumed that the likes of Dio, Blue Oyster Cult, Rage or Grave Digger, with the metal of Testament, Exodus and Manowar, and if that wasn’t enough the bursting, full sounds of bands like Sabaton, Bathory or Alestorm – and in certain moments it comes close. Orchestral vocal harmonies, blockbuster story lines, massive keyboards, furious guitar arpeggios ala Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, Joey Tafolla (Jag Panzer,) Richie Kotzen or Jason Becker make the guitar work of Henning Pauly are certainly worth talking about. Perhaps the vocals could have been stronger, as heard on “Goodnight Boston,” (with its almost backwoods style almost seemed out of place on a metal CD,) and as well the vocals on “Darkness Comes to Light,” were rough sounding but, on a plus side the music did in certain moments did have a touch of Scorpions.
The hard thing about progressive metal is that it is indeed one of the most difficult styles to write, and even harder bring that songwriting into a completed form, for trying to mix the sounds of a symphony and metal, while at the same time giving the sound a surreal and dreamlike quality can be daunting at best. Layers of vocals, keyboards, drums, synthesizers, guitar chords and solos all have to be taken in to consideration, and if not done right it will, most of the time, miss the mark.
So that brings us back to Midnight Sky Masquerade. The screeching guitars and the heavy vocals of the opening track “A Dragon Shall Come,” set the pace and sound of this CD quickly, the soft piano of “I Will Never Ever Stop,” was intoxicating, and the 10 minute “Kingdom of the Battle Gods,” told a fine story and used the guitars and drums to give it a episodic and one could feel himself being led into battle. The bass line during the intro of “Spirit of the Elves,” was well done and could almost hear the shred guitarists listed above during the frantically paced “Out of Control,” and the synthesizers mixed with the galloping guitars of “All Hail the Warrior,” made for an interesting feel and sound (but it must be said that the keyboard solo heard during “All Hail the Warrior” was exceptional, and the Rob Halford-esque vocals were well done.)
But take a listen to Shadow’s Mignon, for they have come up with a CD that lovers of broad storylines done to the resonance of heavy guitars and keyboards should take note of. Enterprising, adventurous, daring, and with only a 3 piece band it must have made for some long hours in the studio. Progressive, symphonic, hard rock and metal are all heard here. So something for everyone.
Label: ProgRock Records
Musicians
Juan Roos – vocals
Stephan Kerbach – keyboards, vocals
Henning Pauly – drums, guitars, bass, vocals
Track Listing:
A Dragon Shall Come
A Slave to Metal
Midnight Sky Masquerade
Goodnight Boston
A Darkness Come to Light
A Beast Abandoned
I Will Never Ever Stop
All Hail the Warrior
Kingdom of the Battle Gods
Spirit of the Elves
No Metal Son of Mine
Out of Control
HRH Rating: 6.5/10