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Mastermind III - Tragic Symphony

Artist:	Mastermind III
Title:	Tragic Symphony
Label:	Cyclops CYCL 026
Length(s):	48 minutes
Year(s) of release:	1995
Month of review:	09/1995

Line up

Bill Berends - guitar, midi-guitar, vocal, bass
Rich Berends - drums and percussion
Phil Antolino - live bass.

Tracks

1)	Tiger! Tiger!	3.45
2)	The Power & The Passion	12.48
3)	All The King's Horses	4.43
Tragic Symphony
4)	i. Sea Of Tears	7.18
5)	ii. Nothing Left To Say	6.08
6)	iii. Into The Void	13.30

Summary

Mastermind is Berends (still not sure whether I should at this point include both brothers or just Bill). Well, Bill writes all the stuff and plays quite a lot of instruments so I think that Bill is still Mastermind. Their third album to date (that's what the III means in the title) and their first release on Cyclops. I do have a tape of their first album in which the ELP influences were tantamount. Let's hear how they have developed through the years.

The music

The albums starts out wonderfully well with Tiger! Tiger! and I like this version a lot. It's a lot less friendly in atmosphere than the Tangerine Dream version that I also like a lot, but the drums really do it for this track. I also like Berends' vocals, maybe a bit bland but likeable. The second track starts out a bit on the cheesy side with some ELPish keys. From the moment however that the guitars comes on through my attention is drawn. After an intro of over three minutes, the singing starts. This part is quite varied and reminds me in some ways of Phish, not being jazzy, but more the fickleness of the track. Lots of diversions on this one with a what you might call military background and even a drumsolo lost in it somewhere. Virtuosic.

The third track is a sad ballad on acoustic guitar. The song is fit to be played in a harbour of any old England's town. somewhere after the middle a turn takes place and we move into a Lucky Man like solo while the lyrics take a definite turn from the sad to the revengeful. The song ends in a solo as well while the lament (oh-oh-oh-oh) continues.

The fourth and last track consist of three parts (which is should, this being Mastermind III). The song starts out like its Jason Becker or Marty Friedman on guitar here, with a definite metal ring to the guitar playing a strong melody. It's very simple for me to say that this is the best track because it takes up more than half of the album, but for you, I'll dive in a bit deeper. After some heavy waves, we move into distinctly quieter, but still dark black water. Berends sings like he has been just pulled from his fresh grave. Again this a lament, very sad, with reminders of a band like Red Jasper in their Winters Tale period and I'm mean atmosphere here. It's of course impossible to share the melody with you here, but this track is really very strong, dark and atmospheric with a strong hint of sadness over it and that with the powerfull playing makes it something to be heard. The second part of the song is more ballad like but not very subdued. Rather heavy at times. The third part is especially menacing and needs no lyrics: it speaks for itself.

Conclusion

Bombastic to say the least, but with its moments of tenderness, this album is very worthwhile and especially for lovers of ELP (which I'm not and even I like it!). I like this a lot better than I liked the first Mastermind, so Bill (may I call you Bill..may I?) is still growing, which is always good. Funny thing is that it sounds classical and fresh at the same time.