What have we here ? Phonotraxx sent me their promo of Mercury Falling. A band I knew nothing about and boy am I glad to know about them now. It looks like Phonotraxx is interested in signing only very talented people, and I'm gonna keep a VERY attentive eye to anything they release from now on and I suggest you do the same.

Very quickly the extremely powerful riffing will bring flashbacks of Symphony X to your mind. It is perfectly clear that this band likes them and it sounds. But it is not a copycat band, you can simply hear their influences breathe throughout their sound. I love the heavy riffing and the perfect balance between a prog, heaviness and the more melodic elements. The Song writing is fresh with some very original moments even if the overall may sound a little derivative at times. I don't like copycat bands but in this case I don't perceive anything of the sort, it's just reminds me of Symphony X, Metallica and more melodic classic bands like Iron Maiden (I even get a Kamelot vibe) here and there (it's more riff driven though, melody is usually released during choruses). The powerful and slightly throaty vocals are a perfect fit for the overall powerful and always heavy sound. Jens Ludwig from Edguy co-produced guitars, bass and drums, and Piet Sielck (Iron Savior) recorded the vocals parts as well as singing as a guest as well. Queen of Pain is one of the most powerful romp of a song I've heard in a while, it's where Mercury Falling shows that they can be extremely heavy as well as very fast and it pays off. That song is simply not of this world !!! The bombastic delivery of the chorus makes my body hair rise, and I want to hear more songs like these. One of (if not) the best song of 2012 hands down ! Right after that we get a killer melodic and heavy mid-tempo in Wash Away My Sins. The album never gets into the subpar category and there are no filler songs in the entire album. When Worlds Collide and Revolution are other examples of in your face killer tracks. The album finishes on another mid-tempo jewel with Long Way Out of Hell that has some subtle oriental touches and brings that jewel of an album to a close beautifully.

As my first exposure to this band this is an unbelievably surprising find. Powerful, very powerful and heavy sound (cannot stress that enough) and production, mixed with great song-writing as well as great musicianship makes Mercury Falling a very strong player (challenger actually) in the Power Prog scene from it's first listen. Additional replays will uncover that the music has quite many layers. From the guitar solos to the keyboards, the powerful vocals and melodies, everything is brought seemlessly to deliver some true triple A grade metal here. If you like Symphony X and powerful guitars and hooks with melodic and often bombastic choruses, you should definitely give Mercury Falling a go ! An extremely pleasant surprise, two thumbs up ! I simply can't wait to listen more from this band as this is the band's fourth album, I will definitely have check their back catalog soon. This is definitely going on my surprise of the year 2012 list !