Reasons Behind
Project M.I.S.T.

“The next level combination of modern-day heavy metal and cyberpunk science fiction!” that is what the press material says about the Italian quartet Reasons Behind’s new album Project M.I.S.T. an album that looks pretty cool from the artwork. It is the second album, the first one was released in 2014 and they have apparently evolved from being a symphonic metal band with electronic influences to a more synth-oriented band. I have not heard the debut so I cannot compare like that it is a female fronted band with a sci-fi styled conceptual album that is described as “a modern metal sci-fi rollercoaster that will take the listener through a breathtaking journey weaved from a stream of images and tunes.” How about that? It sounds interesting, but is it?

Musically they are not that different from many other female fronted bands, melodic, some symphonic elements, fairly standard female vocals. They do have some more electronic stuff, lots of synths and some dance-styled addition making the album infectiously catchy. The variation over the album is also quite decent and a playing time of just over 35 minutes makes it one that doesn’t feel long, the sci-fi inspired theme also gives the album an interesting touch. Elisa may not be the greatest vocalist around but she fits well into the soundscape, so there isn’t too much to complain about there. The project also has a fresh and fine sound, very modern feel to it – good production.

And it is a very good album, I have seen some slightly negative reviews towards this album, and I can understand those in a way as the album isn’t very heavy and targets a metal audience, those are a bit sensitive sometimes. But it is also down to the thing that I often seem to have differing opinions compared with some reviewers, though it is more often more negative views, so it is nice to be more positive than many for a change. There are some points that you can have reservations about, the fact that they don’t really do anything too different, synths aside, and that the vocals aren’t great, but that is outweighed by great songs. Songs like A Hidden Thread, Beyond the Black, Binary Stars, (E)met, to name just a few of them, there are no weaker track on this album and the songs alone makes it worth checking out.

If you like melodic and catchy this is the album for you, it is a strong collection of song with a modern sci-fi twist that makes it well worth giving one or a few spins in the record player. And this dance/synth/electronic element that is fairly prominent gives them plenty of options to explore when composing the next album, they can keep to their established tune while still making something quite different from this if they want. I think this is a very strong album, it is certainly worth checking out.

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