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Axel Rudi Pell - Mystica
Some time ago Yngwie Malmsteen called Axel Rudi Pell a low class musician. I’m not denying that man’s talent but I think that is a little too harsh. But you can accuse Mr. Pell of predictability and the overuse of clichés. Throughout the years Axel and Co has delivered us many records of standard heavy metal. His eleventh studio offering called Mystica is no different. It has again a purple-ish cover like most of his albums. But as the saying goes: never judge a book by its cover. Let the music do the talking then.
 
The album starts off with an intro that isn’t exactly to be called exciting. Almost every Axel Rudi Pell album has an intro, no surprise here. The first song of the album ‘Fly to the moon’ is a well-played song but extremely cliché. It has got a lot of predictable breaks and you can hum the melody line within a minute.

The next song also falls into that category. Once again ‘Rock the Nation’ isn’t a bad song, it has a great sound and is well played. But its predictability is kind of annoying. Running through the rest of the album it is mostly the same story. The title track is nice though, an epic mid tempo song with a good guitar solo in the middle. It shows that Axel really has good musicians in his band like vocalist Johnny Gioeli and drummer Mike Terrana. Also worth mentioning is the short instrumental ‘Haunted castle serenade (opus 4 grazioso e agreso)’. This, the good sound and the well-played songs is all in all just enough to give the record a positive mark.
 
I know that Axel Rudi Pell has a fanatical following in his own country. They are probably the reason why Axel isn’t about experimenting. That kind of audience, although loyal, doesn’t like change. Understandably that you don’t want to try something else, after all who wants to loose their market? But then again, maybe you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I’m sure this review won’t stop fanatical fans to purchase the album. Me personally, I don’t think I’ll play this record again.
Axel Rudi Pell - Mystica
69/1001Details SPV
Released on Monday Aug 28th, 2006
Heavy Metal

Writer @Angel on Wednesday Dec 6th, 2006

Tags: #Axel Rudi Pell
Tracklisting The Mysterious Return (Intro)
Fly To The Moon
Rock The Nation
Valley Of Sin
Mystica
Living A Lie
The Curse Of The Damned
Haunted Castle Serenade (Opus # 4 grazioso e agresso)
Losing The Game
No Chance To Live
Line up Axel Rudi Pell - guitars
Johnny Gioeli - vocals
Mike Terrana - drums
Volker Krawzcak - bass guitar
Ferdy Doernberg - keys