MYSTICITY - Ambassadors Of The Hidden Sun (2011)

At the end of 2008 one of the founders of Melodic Hard Rock genre in Armenia (the country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia) guitarist K.C. Melekyan, has been working productively on their first major release in Europe, North America and Japan.
Tessilck (translated Mysticity) is Melekyan's band / project with its origins at the beginning of the '80s, which has passed through several line-up changes.
Now, for their first international recording "Ambassadors Of The Hidden Sun", the band has hired none other than vocalist Doogie White (Rainbow, Y. Malmsteen, Empire, Cornerstone).
Not only Doggie is aboard, also guests are legend Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow, Sabbath, Quiet Riot, Blue Oyster Cult) on drums and keyboard wizard Derek Sherinian (Black Country Communion, Dream Theater).

The musical style on "Ambassadors Of The Hidden Sun" is classy late '70s / early '80s hard rock ala Rainbow.
From first track "Revolution" immediately you will be transported to the seventies, when a R 'N Roll band in UK was; a guitarist of the Blackmore school, Hammond organ in the front mix, and a singer with a powerful throat. This track sounds as Deep Purple Mark IV, with Doggie vocals in the Glenn Hughes style. Melekyan is a good guitar player, with a vintage sound.
Next is the best song on the album, the title track "Ambassadors Of The Hidden Sun", very well composed, including a convincing guitar riff, nice keyboards and White singing in the Coverdale style. On this one Bobby Rondinelli is behind the drum kit adding some variation to the beats.
"Rain" is another interesting track, as it sounds more modern (if you call modern '83 Rainbow). I really like the tempo and the main melody on this song.
The remaining songs fluctuate between the aforementioned bands.
Amongst the best are the rockin' riff of "Home Sweet Home" (nice one), the interesting acoustic-medieval "Dad Is Gone" with good vocals by Doggie, and the classy hard rocker "Visions" which adds some neo-classical vibe to the album.


Mysticity is made up of skilled musicians, and evidently "Ambassadors Of The Hidden Sun" is a labor of love by a band from an unusual country for this genre.
Most the songs work purely for its essence, because production (and specially the mixing) does not ever help. Doggie White did a good job enhancing the quality, although sometimes sounds as he was singing in auto-pilot.
Anyway, if you like 'ol school (very melodic) hard rock in the Rainbow / Deep Purple classic style, this is for you.
"Ambassadors Of The Hidden Sun" will mainly appeal to an older audience because their sound is vintage with capitals, revisiting the times when classy R 'N R ruled the world.


01 - Revolution
02 - Ambassadors Of The Hidden Sun
03 - Rain
04 - Regret
05 - Dad Is Gone
06 - Home Sweet Home
07 - With And Without You
08 - Crisis
09 - Visions
10 - Ambassadors' Departure
11 - Mirage In Bahrain


Doogie White (Rainbow, Malmsteen, Cornerstone) - Vocals
K.C. Melekyan - Guitars, Keyboards
John Montgomery - Drums
Derek Sherinian (B.C. Communion, Dream Theater) - Keyboards
Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Quiet Riot) - Drums
Djivan Gasparian Jr. (Viza) - Duduk [woodwind instrument]




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http://mysticity.com

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DEEP PURPLE - Phoenix Rising (2011)

DEEP PURPLE don't need of any particular introductions. They are one of the cornerstones of Hard Rock history with a tremendous culture impact.
"Phoenix Rising" is a DVD/CD release covering the so called Deep Purple Mark IV era.
David Coverdale (vocals), Tommy Bolin (guitar), Jon Lord (keyboards), Glenn Hughes (bass & vocals), and Ian Paice (drums) made up this short lived, and final seventies edition of the band.
The group called it quits after a show in Liverpool in March 1976. But no one bothered to inform Hughes who, months later, still labored under the assumption that he was the bass player for Deep Purple.

The CD took audios from Japan and Long Beach, California concerts.
With a cleaned and remastered sound, these tracks displays the powerful golden throat of a young Coverdale in all its glory.
But it is up Jon Lord's keyboard who steals the scene. He was always Purple’s not-so-secret weapon, and he steps up to the plate here in a big way. Lord’s solo during "Smoke On The Water" is a definite highlight, as is his synth turn during "Love Child".
The young and then relatively unknown American guitarist, Tommy Bolin - hired to replace departing guitarist Ritchie Blackmore - has a more restrained presence here in favor of Lord's keys. But his guitar duel with Hughes' vocals on "Gettin' Tighter" is awesome.
Ian Paice’s drumming is power personified, and it is pretty amusing to hear Glenn Hughes ham it up with his bass playing and crazy back-up vocals.


Perhaps it was time. You've got to remember that by 1976, the winds of change were blowing hard (for one powerful example, this was the year The Clash formed).
Preening, bombastic, wild-maned beasts like Purple, Zeppelin and Sabbath were beginning to lose their relevance.
So, "Phoenix Rising" is a true 'swan song' of the underrated, last version of this legendary band.
Rocks.






David Coverdale - Lead vocals
Tommy Bolin - Guitar, vocals, bass, piano
Glenn Hughes - Bass, vocals
Jon Lord - Organ, synthesizer, backing vocals
Ian Paice - Drums, percussion




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www.amazon.co.uk/PHOENIX-RISING-Deep-Purple/dp/B004RJZ9YC

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