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A review from Strutterzine MYTHIC FORCE "SACRED VISION" (INDEPENDENT) MYTHIC FORCE from Arizona, USA is formed around multi-instrumentalist BRODERICK GRAY. He sent me 2 of his CDs, and I must say that both discs are filled with high quality melodic Prog Metal. The first one is as BRODERICK GRAY, with 22 tracks included, this is a very good instrumental Prog/Melodic Metal album in it's best form, so breaks and guitarsolos all over the place. Songs like "Horizons of glory", "The prize", "Dawn of the dragon", "Metal machine" and "Presto" (hello MALMSTEEN!) are good examples of the quality sound Broderick has created. The other CD is called "Sacred vision", and is released under MYTHIC FORCE. The music on this disc is good Prog/Power Metal, and also features vocals. Although Broderick's voice isn't bad at all, I think he would have been better off with a different vocalist, because his voice is not that good he could sing a full album with Prog/Power Metal songs. On the other hand, a fast Power Metal track "Requiem" (this is pure Euro Power Metal, done by an American!) does make you feel interesting in listening further to the album. Other highlights include "Enter the realm" (nice keyboardsolo), "Sacred vision" (this could be an Italian band!), "Time machine", "The castle" and "Cryptic image". Concluded, we have 2 nice albums filled with almost 3 hours of music. The instrumental of BRODERICK GRAY is the best record of the 2, although the vocal songs on MYTHIC FORCE's album also sounds very impressive, but could have been better with a better singer. Then again I must add that Broderick can also improve his own voice, maybe on a future recording, because I hope for more vocal songs in the future. By all means, Broderick is a very talented musician/songwriter. (Points: 8.0 out of 10) _______________________________________________________________________________ A little press I got from www.seaoftranquility.org Mythic Force: Sacred Vision / Broderick Gray: Metal Machine - I purchased a CD several months ago from a guy on eBay, who included his business card in the package. On that card was a web address for Mythic Force, his one-man progressive/power-metal band with symphonic overtones. Turns out Broderick Gray also has a similar-sounding instrumental solo album. One e-mail later, and I had copies of both of these do-it-yourself CDs in my hands. They came out in 2001 and sound like Gray has spent his entire adult life meticulously crafting the 37 tracks contained therein. Think a low-budget combination of Rhapsody, Stratovarius and Primal Fear. The lackluster production, however, doesn't mar the fact that this is some pretty majestic metal - especially when you consider that, according to the liner notes, "all guitars, vocals, keys, bass, temper tantrums and drum programming" are by Gray, whose voice tends to favor the upper reaches of his range. _______________________________________________________________________________ These next few reviews are for my album "Mythic Realms" which was available through Fossil Records. However, my current CD "Metal Machine" has newer and better versions of almost all the same tunes. A review from www.progressiveworld.net Reviewed by: Stephanie Sollow, March 2001 Sometimes you get a metal band who have great musical chops but a lousy singer, such that you wish the vocalist would just keep his mouth shut and let the band play. Well, Broderick Gray's Mythic Realms is like that, only you don't have to wait for the vocalist to take a break - there's no vocals at all here. Just music, great instrumental progressive metal music. And the band is just Gray, on guitar, on keys, on drums. He apologizes in the liner notes for not playing real drums, but to my ear, I couldn't tell the difference. Or maybe I was just overly dazzled by the dexterity of Gray's playing. Being someone who never got past the rhythm guitar stage, and barely beyond three chords, that anyone get their fingers to move about the fretboard with the rapidity that Gray does (or anyone, for that matter) just continues to impress me. I say this because those who are guitarists with even a smidgen more talent than I, might find flaws in Gray's playing, but I sure don't. Self-recorded as this is, the sound quality is very good. There is a certain fuzziness to the sound - the only thing I could liken it to is the difference between printing on a high-end printing press and printing on a mid-range (consumer priced) printer. Looks great, gets the job done, but lacks a certain extra crispness that says tons of money also went into it. But, at the end of the day, I'll take a great but fuzzy home-recorded album with lots of heart than a slickly produced hollow piece of product any day. Of course, it could also just be my stereo, so on that, your mileage may vary. What's important, of course, is the music. Some of the music is quite infectious - of the foot tapping, air-guitaring variety. Gray treats us to 16 different compositions, ranging within the prog metal style - meaning you'll hear bits of Dream Theater, Queensryche, Symphony X...any well known band you care to name practically. Bits of, mind you. Shadings, nods, hints, that sort of thing. Oh, that's not to say that Gray doesn't engage in some fairly recognizable moves, he does. But his energy makes them almost fresh. What you get is progressive metal riffs of the classical, speed and power variety, all melded together - though I'm not sure really that much separates them stylistically anyway, other than, perhaps, tempo. "Dawn Of The Dragon," is rhythmic, getting into a groove that Gray just rides along on. You almost expect a classic, LaBrie-like voice to come swooping in, take hold, and carry you away. Picking up the pace a bit is "Horizons Of Glory," - the headbanging-styled song, but instead of adrenaline fueled Teutonic lyrics sung by a rough voiced vocalist, we get singing guitar lines - Rhapsody comes to mind here, an interlude that suggests battle - hmm, "glory" is in the title. As skilled as Gray is, he isn't really taking instrumental guitar into any new places, but is instead exploring within the places it's been. There are times where things feel a little samey, even if they don't sound exactly samey. In other words, sometimes vocalists help to break things up. With 16 tracks of varying lengths, Gray does explore a variety of tones and colours. But, as an example of his talent and love of some often very tasty licks, Gray has here a great calling card. More about Mythic Realms: Track Listing: The Tree Of Life (0:35) / Realms Of Fire (4:00) / Dawn Of The Dragon (3:21) / Horizons Of Glory (8:16) / Metal Machine (4:09) / Flaming Sword (1:01) / The Prize (3:32) / Foreseeing (0:41) / Viper (3:03) / Presto (2:32) / Abode Of The Dead (2:53) / Sheol (0:50) / Eye Of The Sphinx (2:07) / Blue Streak (3:53) / Dark Legions (5:01) / The Changeling (2:29) (equip list: Yamaha MD8 Multi-Track MD Recorder, Tascam 424 MK II, Lexicon MPX 100, Alesis MidiVerb 4, Lexicon MPX, Mesa Boogie TriAxis, SM 57, Fender Strat, Generalmusic Turbo S3 Music Processor 76 keys, and Fender CG-7 Acoustic Guitar) _______________________________________________________________________________ A review from www.metal-rules.com March 2001 | Released: 2000, Mythic Records | Rating: 3.5/5 | Reviewer: Rick Well here I am with a totally instrumental CD that I like. As if anyone hasn't guessed by now, I am not a big fan of instrumental music. This CD is different however. The man behind this CD is guitar player Broderick Gray. He plays all instruments on this CD including bass, keyboards and drums and does a damn good job. The only thing I miss on this disc is vocals. Guess I will have to leave with it. Gray describes the CD as Heavy/Neoclassical metal and I would have to agree whole heartedly. The influences that Gray lists include Yngwie Malmsteen, Iron Maiden, Fates Warning, Megadeth, Metallica, Annihilator, and Helloween. I can hear bits and pieces of all these bands but Gray has created a great blend of all his influences and with it one damn good CD. The CD kicks off with the obligatory acoustic guitar intro which leads right into "Realms of Fire". This song is a great opener with Gray shredding in his best Yngwie style. "Dawn of the Dragon" takes over where Realms leaves off. Gray slips in a thrash influence with his ode to Geoff Waters and Annihilator. He doesn't mimic Geoff instead he plays a similar style as Waters but again throws in a wrench by adding keyboards and a European powermetal influence. Great song. The over 9 minute long "Horizons Of Glory" is definitely one of the best songs on the CD as it is choke full melodic leads and some very good riffing. Other standout tracks are the "Abode of the Dead" which is some great speed metal and "Eye of the Sphinx" which is just a flat out powermetal song. I really liked this CD. The one thing that kept me from loving this CD was the lack of vocals. I know that it's an instrumental CD but it could have been so much more with a great vocalist. As it is this is a great CD. Broderick Gray is definitely a very talented man. If you are into instrumental metal then by all means get this CD!! _______________________________________________________________________________ A review from www.durp.com Guitarplayer BRODERICK GRAY is presenting a damn technical instrumental guitar album. The album kicks off with a neoclassic track which takes your breath away. Fortunately the poundering and evil "Dawn of the dragon" is focused on good riffs and headbangin' fun. "Horizons of Glory" sounds like ANNIHILATOR meets old school melodic metal. Damn cool. Evil like hell: "Metal machine", the highlight of this album along with "The eye of the sphinx". Overall this would be a very good album ... if it were not drowned by finger practicing mania all the time. In my opinion this release should have replaced some technical demonstration (which are really fast and astonishing) with some melodic spotlights. I'd recommend this album only to fans of heavy instrumental guitar metal with lots of technical lessons. 4 points _______________________________________________________________________________ |