Mesmerize – 20 Years Of Wonder… Live!

Mesmerize
20 Years Of Wonder… Live!
Label: Underground Symphony
Out: April 26^th, 2024
Playing time: 45:08

Mesmerize are one of the bands from Italy that have been active the longest. The band from Milan was founded back in 1988. However, their debut album ‘Tales of Wonder’ was not released until ten years later. Three more albums followed. But the last release, ‘Paintropy’, dates back to 2013, eleven years ago. To mark the twentieth anniversary of ‘Tales of Wonder’, the band played a series of shows in 2018. Another six years later, the live album ‘20 Years of Wonder… Live!’. The band obviously thinks in big time frames.

The one-minute intro is not much use to the listener if they don’t speak Italian. But as this is a concert recording, the introductory words were probably intended more for the audience. ‘It Happened Tomorrow’ is then the opening song. Not from the debut album, however, but from the band’s latest output ‘Paintropy’. Straightforward Heavy Metal. The sound is good. But the fans’ reactions are unfortunately pushed into the background. Unfortunately, not too much of the live atmosphere comes across. The most important thing here is probably the music. And this is worth listening to, as with ‘The Werewolf’, the opener of the album ‘Tales Of Wonder’. There is also a visualiser, but unfortunately no live images. The guitar solo shows off the musicians’ skills. And the Italians also go full throttle later on. Obviously, however, the album is not played in its entirety and not in the correct order. At least on this recording. Nevertheless, you get an overview of the musical quality of the studio album. At the very end, there is a remix of one of the songs (‘Children Of Reality’) from 2024. The sound differs slightly from the live version, sounding harder and more powerful.

Mesmerize proudly celebrate their debut album, which is now 26 years old. This shows how timeless Heavy Metal can be. This begs the question: will there be a new studio album at some point?

Mesmerize – The Werewolf (live): https://youtu.be/fGIDD5DhhJ0?si=s_j9Kkhwr0nVgvlg

Lineup:

Folco Orlandini – Vocals
Piero Paravidino – Guitars
Andrea Garavaglia – Drums
Andrea Tito – Bass
Luca Belbruno – Guitars

Track list:

• Intro
• It Happened Tomorrow
• The Werewolf
• Hell on Wheels
• Logan´s Run
• Children of Reality
• The Catalyst
• Forging the Darksword
• War Journal
• Chorus of the Rain
• Ragnarök
• Children of Reality (2024 Remix)