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MESMERIZE ‘Stainless’ Dragonheart (2005)
I really hope that you are not yet fed up listening to albums from "true" metal bands, because the Italian Metal outfit Mesmerize is here to present you with their fourth studio release, entitled "Stainless". Now, we all know that this specific genre of Metal started to grow during the mid 90's, influenced by the huge commercial success that was achieved by bands like Hammerfall, but in their own defence, this five-piece has been around long before the Swedish "warlords" unleashed their "fury" on this poor planet.
Mesmerize were formed in 1988 by Piero Paravidino (guitars), Folco Orlandini (vocals), Andrea Garavaglia (drums) and Paolo Chiodini (guitar) who, due to personal reasons, left two years ago and was replaced by a new guitarist named Luca Belbruno. The band's original vision was to create classic metal anthems in a similar manner to those of their childhood heroes, who were none other than Manowar, Iron Maiden and Helloween. Demos were recorded, live shows were performed and three full-length albums were released before I was introduced to "Stainless", but I still cannot claim that I knew of them prior to this day.
The first thing that you will probably notice about "Stainless", when you finally manage to get hold of it, is that the artwork that was chosen for the album cover is in no way related to the music that's on offer by this Italian outfit, and the same applies for "The Burn" which is the opening track of this 60-minute release. A few seconds down the line, and I feel like I'm listening to the very latest Iron Maiden material with Timo Kotipelto (Stratovarius) on vocals - not really my cup of tea. Things did not get any better with "Bitter Crop" and as I was getting ready to give up and accept defeat, I heard the Grave Digger-influenced opening riff of "Princess of the Wolves" which generated fresh interest. The heaviness of that riff, combined with the Blind Guardianesque melodic vocal lines and the quite interesting short folky parts made this song the most interesting composition of the album.
After that song, I started paying more attention to what was happening on the album, and even though I discovered some really good guitar riffs and clever ideas, I never managed to get extremely hooked. There is no room for doubt regarding the musical abilities of these five Italians - there are numerous moments album that will make most of you acknowledge the band's high level of musicianship. The real problem is that the band has done nothing but present us with their musical influences without trying to put their personal touch and character to these ten compositions. Folco Orlandini is in no way a bad vocalist, but I don't think that he is in position to successfully perform the quite varied material of "Stainless". The production is indeed exceptional, courtesy of Mr.Giovanni Spinotti (Labyrinth) and we also have the guest appearance of Vanni Ceni (Wotan) and Paola Bianchi (Ludmila) on backing vocals.
Do I think that "Stainless" is an album worth buying? The answer will be yes, for the following reasons: a) If you are a devoted fan of Power/"True" Metal b) if you worship bands like Blind Guardian, Skyclad and Helloween and c) if you collect every release that belongs to this specific genre. I will gladly listen to songs like "Princess of the Wolves", "Bloody Mary" and the epic "Impossible Infinity" when given the chance, but I expect something much better on a "personal level" from them in the near future. Why - simply because they have proved to me that they are capable of writing amazing pieces of music...let's see.
***½
Review by John Stefanis
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