Austin, Texas is world reknowned for its independent scene - whether film, theatre, painting, literature or music, artists offer it at practically each street corner. This relates to their progressive, open atmosphere of tolerance which counterpoints Bush's "Redneck Texas".

But on to the topic. The Metal world owes thanks to Austin, TX for ingenious bands such as WatchTower. Now another hopeful Prog troupe from the Texan wasteland makes the 'Lone star' of the state flag shine a little more brightly again with Meyvn. "Last Rites" is the promising title of Mevyn's 2004 demo, presenting six pieces averaging six minutes playing time each. The shortest piece is "Shine" (3.29), longest "Last Rites" (8.22).

Our disadvantage is the fact that we unfortunately received a CD-r with minimalist insert sheet, which can be particularly condemning as a first impression. Not only the compositional abilities are apparent here, also the technical prowess stands out: The rather young quartet of Drew Creel (guitar/keys), Brad Olson (Drums), Ken Liao (bass) and Rick Clark (Vocals) easily plays other rookie prog combos into the wall. I'll lean still further out the window and insist that Mevyn packs more superduper impact than Fates warning or Dream Theater. Crass, you think? Then take one listen to the opener "Revolution". More than seven minutes long, an inspiring heavy mixture of progressive and power Metal, sung by a chap whose voice is both strong is emotional, and in each register is completely convincing. Production is substantial for a demo. Fortunately in the Drum area and mix there is room for improvement. Otherwise we'd be dealing with geniuses! Everything ultimately comes together, and as such, the songs that were unfortunately missing a member will hopefully be complete in another release. The unusual thing about Mevyn is that the band does not play typical Texas Metal. Yes, "Last Rites" incorporates the popular fusion of aggression/melody/technique, yet Mevyn are miles removed from the Helstar /Arcane /WatchTower style. One could place their music somewhere between Zero Hour (guitar work, singing), Twilight Kingdom (keys/overall sound) and Dream Theater of the post "Images" period (cohesion of the arrangements); in essence, they are not lacking in power by any means. The short acoustic "Shine" is balladesque, and offers the necessary breather before the hellacious fun of the long title track and the send-off "Your Rage" (8.16). "Your Rage" is stylistically somewhat more diffuse than the other songs, and tended toward indulgent Progmetal à la Pain of Salvation with very transparent structures and ever melodious singing of the masterful Rick Clark.

This CR-r should immediately bring this Austin band a disk contract, because anyone who does not recognize the quality here should have surgery on their ears. I urge all Progpower fans: buy, unwrap and enjoy! Available through the super-fast and extremely easygoing lads and lasses of www.cdbaby.com, or through the band themselves: www.meyvn.net.

http://www.sacredmetal.de/index.php?page=reviews/eigen/mevyn2005