"Female Fronted Metal" - three words that always make me curious. And usually, I am disappointed after listening to a new band in this genre, because one can mostly expect a copy of bands like Nightwish or Within Temptation.
This time, I am not. At least not at all.
MindMaze is a young band from Pennsylvania/USA, consisting of the siblings Jeff (guitars) and Sarah Teets (vocals), Kalin Schweizerhof on drums and Symphony X-bassist Mike LePond. Their second longplayer "Back from the Edge" can be described as classical, old-school metal with a progressive and melodic touch.
I enjoy the different sound from a female fronted band like MindMaze has. Sarah Teets has a strong voice and its sound reminds me a bit of Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil). Unfortunately, the eight songs predominantly sound alike. Except for "Onward (Destiny Calls II)", none of the songs really grabs me and after the third song at the latest, I can't help myself but listening just with half an ear.
I still wonder how long my lucky streak will last, because since I started writing here, I mostly had good albums. And yes, "Back from the Edge" IS a good album, but to me, it is just one of these albums where you can't figure out why it doesn't get you. MindMaze does nothing wrong. Nothing at all. But maybe it is exactly this. Sometimes edges and little imperfections make things interesting.
