One of our favorite bands, Saga, is playing Toronto’s Sound Academy on Saturday May 25th and we have the ultimate VIP meet and greet contest running here. Opening that night is another Canadian band and we decided to find out a bit more about them. Mystery is sure to entertain Toronto as they warm up the crowd for Saga. Here is their bio.
The Canadian French speaking province of Quebec has always been partial to the progressive rock genre, so it should not be surprising to see most of Canada’s progressive rock bands hail from Quebec. One of those bands is Mystery. Founded in 1986 by multi-instrumentalist, producer and writer Michel St-Père, who was 17 at the time and working as a sound engineer in a local recording studio. Being raised on a musical diet of rock music, it wasn’t long before the band Rush captured his attention, quickly followed by the music of Yes and Genesis.
After recording a sample demo which received a positive response, the band’s first official self-titled 5-song collection was released in 1992. The recording hits the mark and puts Mystery in the public eye for the first time. Then Mystery is put on hold briefly as drummer Stéphane Perreault would lose the use of both legs later that year to a debilitating illness. He would return to became one of the first drummers to perform from a wheelchair.
The summer of 1994 was taken up performing live throughout the province of Quebec and eventually recording their first full length CD entitled Theatre of the Mind released in 1996. During the recording process, Unicorn Records was born and the first release appropriately was the band’s new CD. The album contained many of the elements in rudimentary form that would come to make up the band’s later sound; the intricate acoustic guitar work, the keyboard interplay, flutes and complex arrangements. Inevitably it also displayed a nineties AOR sensibility that in some respects held the progressive side back. None-the-less the album received great reviews and the band started to get notices outside of Canada.
In May 1998, Mystery released their third and most progressive recording yet, entitled Destiny? The band was now down to a four-piece but Destiny? also became the first album where St-Père brought in additional musicians and voice talent to help execute his creative vision. The fan response was positive. The band was gaining momentum within the progressive rock community however all was not well in the Mystery family as some members weren’t convinced the Progressive Rock direction was the way to go and might in fact be holding the band back from greater success in the mainstream media. Still Destiny? was getting great reviews from the prog magazines all of which indicated to St. Père that musically this was the direction he wanted to take the band. Still, with members leaving it seemed like a good time to take a break, put Mystery on hold and focus on his Unicorn Digital label.
During this period of uncertainty the easiest way to keep the band in the public eye was to release a compilation of some of the band’s earlier material, hence At The Dawn of a New Millennium was created in 2000 collecting much of the band’s early, more progressive material.
The new millennium also marked the start of a renewed and reinvigorated Mystery although it would take considerable time for all the pieces to fall into place including the addition of a new vocalist by the name of Benoit David whom St. Père had seen fronting a Yes tribute band called Close to the Edge two years earlier. The band’s next album, Beneath the Veil of Winter’s Face was released in 2007. This would be the first for vocalist Benoit David and perhaps due in part to the extended time it took to complete the album; it boasts a very sophisticated sound. The compositions are long and well developed rich in symphonic textures and lush instrumentation.
Beneath the Veil of Winter’s Face would go on to become a fan and critic’s favorite garnering “Top 10 Best of” status on many prog related websites, radio shows and magazines. This was a more polished Mystery, firmly entrenched in the symphonic prog style and the new CD became the band’s biggest selling disc to date. As the band were preparing to start on their next album. David took time away from Mystery to become the lead vocalist with the classic progressive rock band Yes.
The next Mystery album entitled One Among the Living was released in 2010. Here David’s involvement took a leap forward as he contributed significantly to at least two of the compositions. The band was on a roll as the critical response was overwhelmingly positive. A number of high-profile live performances took place in 2010 including opening night at the “Right of Spring” music festival (RoSfest). These live events were scheduled at times where David’s involvement with Yes allowed and the Mystery fan base was growing ever larger.
David’s involvement with Yes was brought to an end by health issues in 2012, but this allowed him more time for greater contribution to Mystery’s new album entitled The World is a Game released that same year. The album was a shining example of symphonic prog perfection as the years of performing and producing came together to create a stunning set of compositions. With a new album gaining rave reviews a touring band was put together and 2013 would see Mystery performing live regularly and for the first time outside of Canada going to Mexico, the Netherlands and the UK.
The old adage, “That which doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger,” certainly applies to Mystery. Their past has have been full of personal and personnel upheaval and yet out of that turmoil Mystery have evolved into one of the symphonic progressive rock genres leading bands. As they enter their 28th year of existence, their story is far from over.
Article – Terry Makedon T-Mak World: Toronto’s Site for Music, Movies and Culture www.tmakworld.com | Twitter | Facebook Get the T-Mak World Toolbar below to get all the info you need
