The Mist, one of the most cult bands of Metal music, are back after a very long hiatus. The band has not released any albums since the release of “Gottverlassen” in the long and gone year of 1995. A little bit about the band’s story:
The Mist emerged in mid-1989 from the remaining members of the band Mayhem. Vladimir Korg accepted the invitation to join Mayhem after leaving Chakal. The following year, the band recorded the album “Phantasmagoria” as a quintet, gaining notoriety for its thrash metal sound with strong and direct heavy metal influences.
In 1991, now a quartet, the band recorded what is considered their definitive classic: “The Hangman Tree.” This conceptual work consolidated the group’s identity, marked by dark atmospheres and allegorical, poetic lyrics inspired by cinema and literary works such as “The Wizard of Oz” and “Peter Pan”. The album marked the debut of guitarist Jairo Guedz and highlighted Cello Dias as a distinguished composer.
Following Vladimir Korg’s departure, the band went through further changes and, in 1993, explored industrial metal with “Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust.” At that time, they performed as a trio with Chris Salles on drums, Jairo Guedz on guitar, and Cello Dias on bass and vocals.
For “Gottverlassen,” Cassiano Gobbet replaced Cello Dias, who had joined Soulfly. Guitarist Fabio Audrey joined for a few shows, but shortly afterwards the band decided to disband.
Now after some in and outs, The Mist are back with “The Dark Side of the Soul (An Anatomy of the Soul),” a bold album divided in three distinguished parts: the first explores the fragility of life and how carelessly it is often treated; the second part begins the “Anatomy of the Soul,” which is a dialogue between soul and body, where each track is linked to an organ, used as a poetic metaphor; and last, but not least, the third closes the album with “(Death) – Return to Sender,” a dialogue between soul and matter.
Wow, after reading all this I’ve only got to say wow. So, next step is listen to the music. Ok, the music simply gets as amazing as it can get. It’s fast, it’s aggressive, it’s so well-produced. The kind of album one feels the touch of the producer in each track, in each moment. I do not know if it is just me, but I see a sequence of facts inside the music. I mean, the songs go in a kind of crescendo as the band gets more concise and adapted to the repertoire. It is a sequence of musical improvement with great guitar interventions as in “(Death) – Return to Sender,” a track that goes beyond The Mist‘s Thrash Metal to almost reach the Melodic Death Metal thing.
“The Dark Side of the Soul (An Anatomy of the Soul)” commences with the riff thrilling “The Curse of Life“ a track that has everything I love from head to toe. It starts with that drum filling that takes anyone by the guts and that kind of yell that comes from the seven depths of hell. It’s, at the same time, too melodic and too aggressive keeping Thrash Metal’s tradition of being hard knocking. “Everybody dies” says “The Curse of Life” what makes us wonder if life is a curse or a gift, obviously for The Mist it is a curse. Metal music is alwyas bringing this kind of discussion into light. A thing I do not see other genres doing, except of Punk. “(Cuore) – The Dark Side of the Soul“ has a yet more Metal thematic with the same high quality riffing. Things cool down a little “(Liver) – Killing My Imaginary Friends,” whose intro is slow and mellow, but after it goes crazy as the others with a fine guitar lead like presenting the mayhem. Again guitar riffery does the magic. I have to say vocals here are also a highlight because vocalist Vladimir Korg is very well on it showing the years did good to him. The things he does with “(Face) – Name + Number= Namber” are amazing. “(Lungs) – Death Is Alive Inside Me” picks it harder with a chorus that made remind of other song I cannot remember exactly right now. I likes very much the ironic title of grande finale “(Death) – Return to Sender,” and mostly, its riffing. The tracks ends very well the album.
The thing that takes the fan immeadiately in “The Dark Side of the Soul (An Anatomy of the Soul)” is the excelent guitar riffing and the pristine production Moonspell’s Fernando Ribeiro’s Alma Mater Records did to the album. It is an album to be remembered.
The Mist “The Dark Side of the Soul (An Anatomy of the Soul)” was released on November 7th via Alma Mater Records
Track Listing:
1.The Curse of Life
2.(Embryo) – Anatomy of the Soul
2.1(Cuore) – The Dark Side of the Soul
2.2(Brain) – Geppetto’s Song
2.3(Liver) – Killing My Imaginary Friends
2.4(Lungs) – Death Is Alive Inside Me
2.5(Face) – Name + Number= Namber
2.6(Bones) – Lesson Lived, Lesson Learned
3.(Death) – Return to Sender
Watch official music video here:
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!